Hello and welcome to part 8 of my 20 part series “Better Know a Speaker!” Today’s speaker: Matt Lowry, the fighting teacher!

Matt, when he’s not getting cinderblocks crushed over a bed of nails lying facedown on his chest, is a high school physics teacher and part-time physics and astronomy college professor with a strong interest in promoting science education and critical thinking among my students and the population in general. He is a self-described skeptic, someone who believes in Carl Sagan’s adage that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

He’s a strong believer in teaching by example, which he describes as “sacrificing myself for science”, often performing demonstrations that challenge a number of woo claims. Included among these demonstrations are walking on broken glass, board breaking, and the dreaded Bed Of Nails. In addition, he has my students apply their physics knowledge to dealing with a variety of woo claims, from claims that aliens built the pyramids to the claim that low-frequency EMFs cause brain cancer.

In addition to his usual teaching duties, I also have gotten involved in the grassroots skeptical movement. Specifically, a few years ago he started a group called Darwi’ns Bulldogs, which is a pro-science and evolution group that keeps tabs on creationist activity in northern Illinois and surrounding areas while promoting good science education through letter writing campaigns and public outreach.

Lastly, he also maintains a blog called “The Skeptical Teacher” where he expounds upon various topics related to skepticism, science, and education. Some of his posts are about specific topics – such as scientific illiteracy, pseudoscience, tips & tools for promoting skepticism and critical thinking in the classroom, current events in the news, etc. Other posts consist of random thoughts of the day.

Matt’s presentation is called “Bringing Skepticism Into the Physics Classroom,” where he will embody his motto of sacrificing himself for science by performing a number of skeptical physics demonstrations and wow the audience with his sheer awesomeness. Take a look:

He’ll survive just fine. That is, assuming I don’t mess up the sledgehammer swing…

Stay tuned for more skeptical speakers here on “Better Know a Speaker!”

–Speaker Conjurer Don

Tags: 2 Comments