Society for Scientific Exploration

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This article is about a organization of scientists. For the UK-based charity, see Scientific Exploration Society.

The Society for Scientific Exploration, or SSE, is a professional organization of scientists and other scholars committed to studying unusual and unexplained phenomena that cross traditional scientific boundaries and may be ignored or inadequately studied within mainstream science. [1]

It helds annual meetings and publishes a quarterly peer reviewed journal called Journal of Scientific Exploration. [1]

Contents

[edit] Activities

[edit] Journal

The society's peer reviewed journal "Journal of Scientific Exploration" deals with the same topics than the ones at meetings, alongside research on reincarnation, UFOs and near-death experiences. Pretty much anything that might have shown up on The X-Files or in the National Enquirer shows up first here. [2]

[edit] Anual meeting

The SSE helds an annual scientific meeting in the USA every spring and periodic meetings in Europe. [1] In the USA meeting, around a hundred of researchers who came to hear talks on, among other things, consciousness physics, astrology and parapsychology. [2] Many of the scientists here are on the faculty at major universities, and were doing fine at conventional research. [2]

The meetings last usually 3 days and consist of "invited lectures, contributed talks and poster sessions selected by a program committee." [3]

According to Roger Nelson, head of the Global Consciousness Project, ""What we do is give everyone a respectful hearing. If we think a speaker is doing bad science, we consider it our duty to criticize it. We get our share of lunatics, but they don't hang around long." [2]

[edit] Young Investigators Program

The Young Investigators Program was created in response of enquiries of young scholars on the topics explored by the society. It's designed by its participants intends to "provide information and resources for the scholarly study of anomalous phenomena and other frontier areas of science". [4]

[edit] History

The Society was founded in 1982 by fourteen scientists and scholars, [1] and the first SSE meeting took place at the University of Maryland in 1982 [3]

As of 2008 it has approximately 800 members in 45 countries worldwide. [1]

[edit] Membership

As of 2005:

As of 2008, the Leaders Emeritus were Peter A. Sturrock, from the Department of Physics & Department of Applied Physics of Stanford University and Larry Frederick and Charles Tolbert from the Department of Astronomy of University of Virginia. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Society for Scientific Exploration. Society for Scientific Exploration. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Michael D. Lemonick/Gainesville (2005-05-24). Science on the Fringe. Time magazine. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  3. ^ a b Meetings. Society for Scientific Exploration. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  4. ^ Young Investigators. Society for Scientific Exploration. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  5. ^ Council. Society for Scientific Exploration. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.

[edit] External links

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