This book has its genesis in a lengthy period I spent in hospital in 2001. The illness was painful – and I had a near-death experience – but as I recovered, I spent weeks reviewing my own life and the inevitable coming of my own demise. So, I asked myself, what did I want to do with the time that was left? Experiences of this kind are common among middle-aged men, and can lead to monumentally foolish decisions. I claim no special wisdom, but my change of course seems to have been completely beneficial.

I had acquired a great deal of respect for the skeptical movement, especially in the way it had helped stop the creation scientists from infiltrating education in my home state of Queensland, and so I conceived the idea of a course in skepticism at Griffith University. On being released from hospital I began to plan such a course. To my surprise, no one at the university objected to such a radical change in my teaching. When it was taught, the course was a great success. Numbers rapidly rose to unprecedented heights and the enthusiasm and involvement of the students was greater than I had ever witnessed.

There were some reasonable books in the area, I found, but none which quite fitted the course. I decided to do things the hard way and write my own. I was greatly helped in this by study leave from Griffith University in 2005.