Shawn Carlson
| Shawn Carlson | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Physicist, science writer, and STEM educator |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Known for | Society for Amateur Scientists, LabRats |
| Works | The Amateur Scientist |
| Awards | MacArthur Fellowship |
Shawn Carlson (born 1960) is an American physicist, science writer, and a STEM educator.
Carlson received his inspiration to become a scientist as well as his first lessons in how to do science from his grandfather, George Donald Graham Carlson describes his grandfather as "a free-spirited wild man, a person with incredible scientific creativity. But he was one of those personalities who couldn't go through the standard course of instruction. So he pursued his passion for mathematics and geology and biology on his own and he would frequently write really interesting papers that he couldn't get published because he didn't have 'Ph.D.' after his name."
Carlson graduated from U.C. Berkeley with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Applied Mathematics and Physics in 1981. He graduated from UCLA with a master's degree in Physics in 1983, and with a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics in 1989. As a post doc, Carlson worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
While an undergraduate, Carlson carried out what is widely regarded to be the most comprehensive test of astrologer’s abilities to extract information about their clients from the apparent positions of celestial objects as seen from the places and times of their clients' births.
Carlson’s experiment involved twenty-eight astrologers who were held in high esteem by their peers. They agreed to match over 100 natal charts to psychological profiles that were generated by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), a standard and well accepted personality test, which the astrologers themselves identified as the scientific instrument that was best aligned with type of information they believed they could divine from their art. The astrologers agreed that the experimental protocol provided a “fair test” of astrology prior to taking part in it.
The participating astrologers were nominated by the National Council for Geocosmic Research (NCGR), which acted as the astrological advisors to ensure that the test was fair. NCGR chose 26 of the 28 astrologers, the other two being interested astrologers who were vetted by NCGR after they heard about the experiment. The astrologers came from Europe and the United States. The astrologers also identified the central proposition of natal astrology to be tested. To avoid possible bias from either the scientist performing the study or the participating astrologers, the experiment was performed double-blind.
...
Wikipedia