1. Massimo Pigliucci is a critic of pseudoscience and creationism, and an advocate for secularism and science education.
19 Facts About Massimo Pigliucci
1. 2.
Massimo Pigliucci has a doctorate in genetics from the University of Ferrara, a PhD in biology from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in philosophy of science from the University of Tennessee.
3.
Massimo Pigliucci is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
4.
Massimo Pigliucci was formerly a professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University.
5.
In 1997, while working at the University of Tennessee, Massimo Pigliucci received the Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize, awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist.
6.
Massimo Pigliucci is a proponent of an extended evolutionary synthesis to unify parts of biology not covered by the "modern synthesis" of the 20th century.
7.
Massimo Pigliucci has written regularly for Skeptical Inquirer on topics such as climate change denial, intelligent design, pseudoscience, and philosophy.
8.
Massimo Pigliucci has written for Philosophy Now and maintains a blog called "Rationally Speaking".
9.
Massimo Pigliucci has debated "deniers of evolution", including young earth creationists Duane Gish and Kent Hovind and intelligent design proponents William Dembski and Jonathan Wells, on many occasions.
10.
Massimo Pigliucci is an atheist, but does not believe that science necessarily demands atheism, because of two distinctions: that between methodological naturalism and philosophical naturalism, and that between value judgements and matters of fact.
11.
Massimo Pigliucci believes that many scientists and science educators fail to appreciate these differences.
12.
Massimo Pigliucci has criticized New Atheist writers for embracing what he considers to be scientism.
13.
Massimo Pigliucci describes the mission of skeptics, referencing Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World saying "What skeptics are about is to keep that candle lit and spread it as much as possible".
14.
Massimo Pigliucci serves on the board of NYC Skeptics and on the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America.
15.
Massimo Pigliucci criticized the newspaper article by Pope Francis entitled, "An open dialogue with non-believers".
16.
Massimo Pigliucci became a popularizer of Stoicism and one of the driving forces in Stoicism's resurgence in the United States in the early twenty-first century.
17.
Massimo Pigliucci said he always felt Stoicism was part of his Italian heritage, but he came to practice it after being disenchanted with Buddhism, though he finds both schools of thought to share similarities.
18.
Massimo Pigliucci eventually printed the transcript of his performance as a guest on the show in his book Space Chronicles as a full chapter covering eight pages.
19.
Massimo Pigliucci left the podcast in 2015 to pursue his other interests.