Why Statues Weep, Edited by Wendy M.Grossman & Christopher C. French
This selection of articles from 21 years of The Skeptic magazine is a bracing tonic at a time when numbskull credulity seems to be winning the race against rationality.
Refreshing draughts of scepticism include: Joe Nickell's "very high degree of confidence" that the Turin Shroud is an image "analogous to brass rubbing" from a bas-relief; Alan Hunt's suggestion that sudden volatility in the Mary Celeste's cargo of 1,700 barrels of alcohol may have prompted the crew's mysterious departure; and David Hambling's assertion that the Nostradamus prediction ("In the city of York there will a great collapse... Two twin brothers torn apart by chaos"), widely quoted in 2001 was "cobbled together from different sources" and largely invented".
As for weeping statues, Wendy M Grossman explains how you can make one yourself.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies