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Daniel Loxton (born 1975) is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and skeptic. He wrote or co-wrote several books including ''Tales of Prehistoric Life,'' a children's science trilogy, and '' Abominable Science!'', a scientific look at
cryptozoology Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Nes ...
. As editor of ''Junior Skeptic'', Loxton writes and illustrates most issues of ''Junior Skeptic'', a children's science section in the Skeptics Society's '' Skeptic'' magazine. Loxton has written articles for critical thinking publications including ''eSkeptic'', ''Skeptic'', '' Skeptical Briefs'', and the ''
Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...
'' as well as contributed cover art to ''Skeptic'', ''
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
'', and '' Free Inquiry''. He also regularly contributes to Skepticblog, a collaboration
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
promoting
science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
,
critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased an ...
, and
skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...
.


Early life

Loxton credits
Barry Beyerstein Barry L Beyerstein (May 19, 1947 – June 25, 2007) was a scientific skeptic and professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Beyerstein's research explored brain mechanisms of perception and consciousness, the ...
for his interest in skepticism. In several interviews Loxton talks about attending a science fiction conference in British Columbia in 1991 and hearing Beyerstein speak on behalf of the BC Skeptics. "He calmly and kindly fielded questions from the audience—and I was shocked by almost everything he said. This wasn’t the usual fluff: this guy really knew what he was talking about, in a way that I had never encountered before. Even his 'I don’t know's were substantial in a way that I wasn’t used to hearing." Loxton worked as a professional shepherd in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
on the
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
side of the Alaska Panhandle.


Career

Loxton has published articles on skeptical activism. In 2007, he wrote "Where Do We Go From Here?" about the direction of the new generation of skepticism, and which helped to inspire the SkeptiCamp community organized conferences on scientific skepticism. Then in 2009, he wrote "What Do I Do Next?" providing ideas for individual involvement in the skepticism movement, which was featured on an episode of the Skepticality podcast. In 2014, he wrote "Why Is There a Skeptical Movement?" which explores "the roots, founding principles, and purpose of scientific skepticism. Arguing that it is essential for skeptics to "appreciate that we’re caretakers for the work of those who have come before," Loxton carries forward the discussion about the scope and limits of scientific skepticism that has been raised again in recent days". Loxton is the author of ''Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came To Be'', which was nominated for the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Norma Fleck Award for Children's Non-Fiction and won the Lane Anderson Award (a $10,000 prize). When pitching ''Evolution'' to U.S. publishers, Loxton was told "‘Well of course I love it, but we just think it’s a little too hot,’... Which is a strange thing to say about fundamental biology." Not so in Canada. About writing a children's book on the topic of evolution Loxton states "People forget to see kids as thinking beings, as people who have existential questions that they want answered. They just need the best information available," he said. "Keep it simple, but make it true." In 2011, he wrote ''Ankylosaur Attack (Tales of Prehistoric Life)'', which was nominated for a
Forest of Reading The Forest of Reading is Canada's largest recreational reading program, featuring ten award programs and run by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). Programs are primarily geared towards French and English readers in kindergarten to grade twelv ...
Silver Birch Express award from the Ontario Library Association. He also appeared in an interview on the JREF podcast, For Good Reason in the episode dated February 6, 2010 and on Christopher Brown's ''Meet the Skeptics!'' podcast. In 2013, he co-authored ''Abominable Science!''. In 2015, Loxton was elected a fellow of the
Committee of Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "prom ...
.


Books

* (translated into Slovenian, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, and, in a modified form as the separate book Evolução, Portuguese). * * * *


References


External links


''Junior Skeptic''Daniel Loxton blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loxton, Daniel Canadian science writers Critics of cryptozoology Critics of parapsychology Living people Canadian skeptics 1975 births Canadian humanists