Al Seckel
| Al Seckel | |
|---|---|
Seckel in 2009
|
|
| Born |
Alfred Paul Seckel September 3, 1958 New York City, NY, US |
| Died | 2015 (aged 56) France |
| Occupation | writer, scientific skeptic |
| Known for | Popularizer of optical illusions |
| Website | www |
Alfred Paul "Al" Seckel (September 3, 1958 – 2015) was an author of books on visual and other types of sensory illusions, and how they related to perception. Seckel collected, researched, and experimented with illusions to understand what conditions are necessary for them to work.
Throughout the 1980s, Al Seckel was active in the Freethought movement. In this capacity he authored a number of articles and pamphlets. He also edited two books on the English rationalist philosopher Bertrand Russell. In 1983, Seckel and John Edwards co-created the Darwin fish design, which was first sold as a bumper sticker and on T-shirts in 1983–84 by a southern California group called Atheists United. Chris Gilman, a Hollywood prop maker, manufactured the first plastic car ornaments in 1990, and licensed the design to Evolution Design of Austin, Texas. When the emblem evolved into a million-dollar business, Evolution Design began threatening to sue distributors of look-alike and derivative products (like a Jewish "gefilte" fish). Seckel in turn sued Evolution Design for copyright infringement. Seckel did not seek royalties, but wanted Evolution Design to allow free use of the design by anyone authorized by him. Although Seckel was able to produce examples of the design that predated Gilman's claimed 1990 copyright date, the suit was settled when it became apparent that Seckel and Edwards had allowed the design to fall into public domain.
In 1984, Seckel started the Southern California Skeptics (SCS), and became a spokesperson for science and its relationship to the paranormal. SCS co-sponsored and produced a monthly series of lectures held monthly at the California Institute of Technology, other meetings were also held on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, that explained alleged paranormal phenomena such as Extra-sensory perception and firewalking. Seckel also wrote about investigating various supernatural claims from the scientific perspective. One such investigation, led by James Randi, concerned faith healer Peter Popoff, who used a hearing transmitter to give the impression that he was psychic and hearing private information from God. Seckel also wrote a column for the Los Angeles Times and the Santa Monica Monthly News from 1987–1989, explaining apparently amazing or paranormal phenomena in scientific terms.
...
Wikipedia