Ben Goldacre is a gift to skepticism. He writes for The Guardian and attacks all manners of bad science (which is why he calls his column "Bad Science"), from alt-medders to pharmaceutical companies. He doesn't let any misuse of science in the medical field stand, and that's why I love him. And now you can too: watch this video of Ben at the Pop!Tech conference held in Camden, Maine in October.

[embed] http://www.vimeo.com/17889555 [/embed]

Ben's book, oddly enough titled Bad Science

, is great as well, and I highly recommend it. There's a chapter he had to take out due to litigation by a guy named Mathias Rath, who says vitamins can cure AIDS. Yes, you read that correctly. Ben posted that chapter on his website

, and it may be one of the most important things ever written in the area of critical thinking. Lack of proper treatment for AIDS kills hundreds of thousands of people in Africa alone. Hundreds of thousands. When people like Ben win, lives are saved. The more people who know about him, the better. He's a true hero of skepticism.

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