Massimo Pigliucci
City University of New York — New York, NY
Dr. Massimo Pigliucci is a Professor of Evolution and Philosophy at Stony Brook University in New York. He has a Doctorate in genetics from the University of Ferrara (Italy), a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Connecticut, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Tennessee. Additionally, he has been a post-doctoral associate at Brown University.
Dr. Pigliucci's academic research focuses on the ecology and evolution of genotype-environment interactions (the nature vs. nurture problem). He has published over 100 technical papers in evolutionary biology and philosophy of science.
His books include: Phenotypic Evolution, a Reaction Norm Perspective (with Carl Schlichting, Sinauer, 1998); Tales of the Rational: Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science (Freethought Press, 2000); Phenotypic Plasticity: Beyond Nature and Nurture (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism and the Nature of Science (Sinauer, 2002); Phenotypic Integration: Studying the Ecology and Evolution of Complex Phenotypes (Oxford Press, 2004); Making Sense of Evolution: The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology (with Jonathan Kaplan, Chicago Press, 2006); and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell the Difference Between Science and Bunk (Chicago Press, 2009).
He has been awarded the prestigious "Dobzhansky Prize" by the Society for the Study of Evolution and has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for his fundamental work on gene-environment interactions and for his fight against pseudoscience.
As a skeptic and secular humanist, he has debated creationist Duane Gish and Christian theologian William Lane Craig, among others, and has given talks to various skeptic and humanist groups throughout the US, and has been published in Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and Skeptical Inquirer. His website is located at www.rationallyspeaking.org and his personal blog can be found at rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com.
Massimo can be reached via e-mail at massimo [dot] pigliucci [at] gmail [dot] com
Watch Massimo's presentation titled "Reason" given at the CFI Leadership Conference:
