Victor J. Stenger Dead At 79

[onager]

Very sad news. Stenger was one of those people, like Sagan, Dawkins and Tyson, who could explain complex subjects in simple terms. His particular subject was quantum physics.

Along with being a very strong atheist, he despised the Quantum Woomeisters like Deepak Chopra. And his background gave him the ammo to fight them effectively. Whenever someone popped up weebling about God Particles or gross misrepresentations of Heisenberg, Stenger was always there to correct them. Forcefully and with humor. I heard him lecture live on "Quantum Quackery" and it was a thing of beauty.

He will be missed.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/08/29/victor-stenger-physicist-and-prolific-atheist-author-is-dead-at-79/

[LiberalAndProud]

1. A brilliant mind. A life well lived.

[bvf]

2. Not familiar with the name but he sounds like a very intriguing character.

Will definitely look into his work.

Any critic of "quantum woomeisters" is OK by me.

Sorry to hear of this.

[bvf]

3. Wow. Just scanned a few quotes of his,

one of which was.to the effect that "proof" of the power of prayer should be subject to the scientific method (I'm paraphrasing).

Gotta pick up a book or two of his. Recommendations would be welcome.

[onager]

4. Here's a list of his books from Wiki...

I liked "God: The Failed Hypothesis." The only book ever published by Prometheus (a small specialty publisher) to hit the NY Times best-seller list. Also liked "The New Atheism," an overview of atheism post-2005 or so.

You can also find many of his articles online.

Good luck and welcome to the group! Please send your subscription dues to one of our Hosts, and they'll make sure you get your suitable-for-barbecuing baby.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_J._Stenger#Books_for_General_Audiences

[AlbertCat]

6. "God: The Failed Hypothesis."

I found it a little dry, but otherwise very good. It has a repeating...er...mantra that is a very good thing to remember: (even tho' I don't remember the exact way he phrases it...so I'm paraphrasing. I need to go look up the exact words.)

"The universe appears and acts just as it would were there no god."

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. A sad loss - his scientific viewpoint was particularly effective

at arguing against all kinds of nonsense.