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| {{short description|American collector and skeptic (1958–2015)}} | |||
| {{POV|date=July 2015}} | {{POV|date=July 2015}} | ||
| {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} | |||
| {{Infobox person | {{Infobox person | ||
| | name = Al Seckel | | name = Al Seckel | ||
| Line 7: | Line 9: | ||
| | birth_name = Alfred Paul Seckel | | birth_name = Alfred Paul Seckel | ||
| | birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|09|03}} | | birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|09|03}} | ||
| | birth_place = ], |
| birth_place = ], U.S. | ||
| | death_date = 2015 (aged 56) | | death_date = 2015 (aged 56) | ||
| | death_place = France | | death_place = France | ||
| | known_for = Popularizer of optical illusions | | known_for = Popularizer of optical illusions | ||
| | |
| education = ], no degree | ||
| ⚫ | | occupation = Writer, ] | ||
| | education = | |||
| ⚫ | | occupation = |
||
| | years_active = | | years_active = | ||
| | |
| spouses = {{plainlist| | ||
| * {{marriage|Laura Mullen|1980||end=divorced}} | |||
| * {{marriage|]|2004||end=separated}} | |||
| * {{marriage|Alice Klarke<br />||2007|end=}} | |||
| }} | |||
| | partners = ]<br />(2007–2015; his death) | |||
| | parents = {{unbulleted list|]|Paul Bernard Seckel}} | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''Alfred Paul''' "'''Al'''" '''Seckel''' (September 3, 1958 – 2015) was an American collector and popularizer of ] and other types of sensory ]s, who wrote books about them. Active in the ] movement as a ] in the 1980s, he was the co-founder<ref name="bridgetread" /> and executive director of the Southern California Skeptics.<ref name="Stewart_1986" /> News coverage arising from his connection to ] has stressed Seckel's misrepresentation of his education and credentials.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Armstrong |first=Stephen |date=December 30, 2021 |title=The stranger-than-fiction history of the Maxwell madhouse |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/the-stranger-than-fiction-history-of-the-maxwell-madhouse/ar-AAShVaF |access-date=April 16, 2022 |quote=. . . Epstein's Mindshift conference – a TED Talk rival co-founded with Al Seckel. As befits a suitor for arguably the strangest family in the world, Seckel socialised with the likes of Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, Elon Musk and Dudley Moore, and convinced many people that he was a cognitive neuroscientist with ties to Cal Tech. In fact, he was a top-notch charlatan who had failed to graduate from college – but he delighted in delivering TED Talks and publishing books on the science of visual illusions.}}</ref> | |||
| '''Alfred Paul''' "'''Al'''" '''Seckel''' (September 3, 1958 – 2015) was an American author of books on ] and other types of sensory ]s. | |||
| == Early life == | == Early life == | ||
| Seckel was born September 3, 1958 in ], New York to Paul Bernard Seckel, a German-born painter and graphic artist, and ], a German-born pianist and classical composer. His mother was a refugee from the ]. Seckel was raised in a ] household. He grew up in ] with his two |
Seckel was born September 3, 1958, in ], New York to Paul Bernard Seckel, a German-born painter and graphic artist, and ], a German-born pianist and classical composer. His mother was a refugee from the ]. Seckel was raised in a ] household. He grew up in ] with his two brothers. Seckel graduated from ] in 1976. He attended ] from 1976 to 1978 but left without receiving a degree.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> | ||
| In 1981, Seckel moved to the ], where he lived for nearly thirty years. | In 1981, Seckel moved to the ], where he lived for nearly thirty years.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> | ||
| == Career == | == Career == | ||
| === Freethought movement === | === Freethought movement === | ||
| Throughout the 1980s, |
Throughout the 1980s, Seckel was active in the ] movement and generated a number of articles and pamphlets. He also edited two books on the English rationalist philosopher ]. In 1983, Seckel and John Edwards co-created the ] design, which was first sold as a bumper sticker and on T-shirts in 1983–84 by a ] group called Atheists United.<ref name="Fish fight">{{cite news|author=Lubman|first=Sarah|date=December 21, 1995|title=Which came first? Copyright battle brewing over evolution of Darwin fish|work=]|publisher=Knight-Ridder News Service|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19951221&id=jukyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yAcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3452%2c4280945&hl=en|access-date=May 24, 2021}}</ref> Chris Gilman, a Hollywood ] maker, began to manufacture plastic car ornaments with the Darwin fish in 1990, and licensed the design to Evolution Design of Austin, Texas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Filleting their foes through a fish |author=Berta Delgado |publisher=The Record (Bergen County, NJ) |date=March 15, 1998 |page=L05}} (originally published in the Dallas Morning News)</ref> When the emblem evolved into a million-dollar business, Evolution Design threatened to sue distributors of look-alike and derivative products. Seckel in turn sued Evolution Design for copyright infringement. Although Seckel produced examples of the design that predated Gilman's 1990 copyright date, the suit was settled when it was determined that Seckel and Edwards had allowed the design to fall into ].<ref name="Fish fight" /> | ||
| In 1984, Seckel started the Southern California Skeptics (SCS) |
In 1984, Seckel started the Southern California Skeptics (SCS) and became a spokesperson for science and its relationship to the ].<ref name="Nostradamus">{{cite news|author=Rheinhold|first=Robert|date=April 8, 1988|title=Winning the West from Nostradamus|page=A14|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/08/us/los-angeles-journal-winning-the-west-from-nostradamus.html|access-date=July 3, 2020}} Note: This article inaccurately states that Seckel was a physicist.</ref> SCS co-sponsored and produced a monthly series of lectures, primarily held at the California Institute of Technology, with other meetings occasionally held on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, that explained alleged paranormal phenomena such as ] and ].<ref>'', The Skeptical Inquirer'', vol. 12 no. 4, Summer, 1988; p. 346.</ref><ref name="Baker_1985">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-21-mn-13148-story.html|title=A Skeptical View: Doubting Academics Waging a Flamboyant Battle to Debunk Society's Fascination With Popular Theories|author=Baker|first=Bob|date=April 21, 1985|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 6, 2019|page=A3}}</ref><ref name="Good show">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-ga-1716-story.html|title=No Doubt About It--The Skeptics Put On Good Show|author=Newton|first=Edmund|date=January 4, 1987|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 6, 2019|page=1}}</ref> Seckel was the founder and executive director of SCS.<ref name="Stewart_1986">{{Cite journal|last=Stewart|first=Doug|date=November 1986|title=Wheels go round and round, but always run down|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4538950/ITOF?u=spl_main&sid=ITOF&xid=cca4b010|journal=Smithsonian|volume=17|pages=193+|via=Gale General OneFile}}</ref> An article published in '']'' in 1985 states that the Southern California Skeptics were "the fastest growing chapter of the ] (CSICOP)".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5WQaw-Vf6AC&q=al+seckel+and+csicop&pg=PA28|title=Feedback in Los Angeles|date=June 6, 1985|work=New Scientist|access-date=August 11, 2019|publisher=Reed Business Information|issue=1459|volume=106|page=28|issn=0262-4079}}</ref> Author George P. Hansen, in an article published in 1992, stated that incidents involving Seckel had embarrassed CSICOP because "he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hansen|first=George P.|date=January 1992|title=CSICOP and the Skeptics: An Overview|url=http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/CSICOPoverview.htm|journal=The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research|volume=86|page= 39|access-date=August 5, 2019|quote="Incidents involving Al Seckel have also proved embarrassing for CSICOP. Seckel was an official and active member of the Committee and a founder of the Southern California Skeptics. After years of high profile activity, it was discovered that he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed. Ironically, the Committee had previously prided itself on exposing hoaxers and con artists, but CSICOP has made no public comment on the Seckel affair."}}</ref> | ||
| The Southern California Skeptics dissolved after the late 1980s. In 1991, ] and Pat Linse co-founded a new ]-area skeptical group called ]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ibold|first=Hans|date=November 13, 2000|title=L.A.'s Own Ghostbuster|url=https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2000/nov/13/paranormal-las-own-ghostbuster/|journal=Los Angeles Business Journal|volume=22|issue=46|quote=Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptic Society in Pasadena.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Loxton|first=Daniel|date=November 2009|title=The Paradoxical Future of Skepticism|url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2009/11/the-paradoxical-future-of-skepticism/|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|publisher=Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal|volume=33|issue=6}}</ref> after the Southern California Skeptics had disbanded.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shermer|first=Michael|date=June 22, 2021|title=All Our Yesterdays: A Remembrance of Pat Linse.|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=10639330&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA681541786&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs|journal=Skeptic (Altadena, CA)|language=English|volume=26|issue=3|pages=64–71}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Scott S.|date=April 2000|title=Schism in the Church of the Left Brain|url=https://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/Fate-Apr-Jun-2000.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=November 7, 2021|publisher=]|pages=36–37|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108001425/https://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/Fate-Apr-Jun-2000.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2021 }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=Shermer|first=Michael|date=June 2000|title=Letter in response to Schism in the Church of the Left Brain|url=https://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/Fate-Apr-Jun-2000.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=November 7, 2021|website=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108001425/https://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/Fate-Apr-Jun-2000.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2021 }}</ref> | |||
| In 1987, SCS and Seckel helped sponsor an ] brief before the ] in the case ], challenging the constitutionality of a ] law calling for the classroom inclusion of ].<ref>Seckel, Al. Science, Creationism, and the U. S. Supreme Court. ''The Skeptical Inquirer.'' Vol. 11, no. 2. Winter 1986–1987. pp. 147-158.</ref> The brief was written by a group of attorneys led by ] (later president of ]), and SCS board member and ] Laureate ] recruited the signatures of 72 Nobel Laureates, 17 State Academies of Science, and 7 other scientific organizations.<ref name="Good show" /> It argued that "creation science" was counter not only to the study of ], but to all sciences. The court decided in a 7-2 vote that so-called "creation-science" was in fact, religion disguised as science, deliberately construed as such in order to circumvent the constitutional prohibitions of keeping Church and State separate, especially in the public science classroom. All of the opinions cited the brief, including the dissents.<ref>EDWARDS, GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA, ET AL. v. AGUILLARD ET AL. No. 85-1513. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 482 U.S. 578; 107 S. Ct. 2573; 1987 U.S. LEXIS 2729; 96 L. Ed. 2d 510; 55 U.S.L.W. 4860.</ref> | |||
| The Southern California Skeptics dissolved in the late 1980’s. In 1992, ] started a new ]-area skeptical group called ], using SCS's old mailing list and involving several of the same board members. | |||
| === Visual illusions === | === Visual illusions === | ||
| Seckel was "a leading collector and popularizer" |
Seckel was "a leading collector and popularizer" of ].<ref name="Tablet2015"/> | ||
| In 1994, |
In 1994, he created an interactive website on illusions.<ref name="Seeing">Voss, David. "Seeing is believing." ''Science.'' (1997) Vol. 275, p. 792.</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=O'Connell|first=Pamela Licalzi|date=April 16, 1998|title=Screen Grab; See the Spiral Spin, See Your Skin Crawl!|page=G10|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/16/technology/screen-grab-see-the-spiral-spin-see-your-skin-crawl.html|access-date=May 24, 2021}}</ref> He also developed visual illusion installations for museums.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaiser|first=Jocelyn|date=1998|title=Eye twisters|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A20813399/AONE?u=spl_main&sid=AONE&xid=57708618|journal=Science|volume=280|pages=1163|doi=10.1126/science.280.5367.1163c|s2cid=220089708|quote=Al Seckel, vice president of a company called IllusionWorks LLC that produces exhibits for museums|via=Gale Academic OneFile}}</ref> | ||
| Seckel's books about optical illusions include several picture books for children such as ''Ambiguous Illusions'' (2005), ''Action Optical Illusions'' (2005) and ''Stereo Optical Illusions'' (2006). |
Seckel's books about optical illusions include several picture books for children such as ''Ambiguous Illusions'' (2005), ''Action Optical Illusions'' (2005) and ''Stereo Optical Illusions'' (2006). | ||
| His book, ''Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali, and the Artists of Optical Illusion'' (2004), collects the work of many visual illusion artists, including among others ] (1527–1593), ] (1904–1989), ] (1898–1972), and ] (1905–1944). His book ''The Art of Optical Illusions'' placed first on the American Library Association's "Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" list for 2001.<ref>American Library Association </ref> |
His book, ''Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali, and the Artists of Optical Illusion'' (2004), collects the work of many visual illusion artists, including among others ] (1527–1593), ] (1904–1989), ] (1898–1972), and ] (1905–1944). His book ''The Art of Optical Illusions'' placed first on the American Library Association's "Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" list for 2001.<ref>"YALSA announces Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" (January 2001). American Library Association </ref> | ||
| He gave many lectures about such illusions, including an early ] (2004) and a talk at the ], Davos |
He gave many lectures about such illusions, including an early ] (2004) and a talk at the ], Davos in 2011.<ref name="Tablet2015"/> | ||
| ==Other activities== | ==Other activities== | ||
| === Rare book investment and sales === | === Rare book investment and sales === | ||
| During the late 1990s, Seckel |
During the late 1990s, Seckel collected the papers of a number of early molecular biologists (including ], ], ], ], and ]) for rare-book dealer Jeremy Norman.<ref name="Preserving_2005">{{Cite journal|last1=Zinder|first1=Norton|last2=Roberts|first2=Richard J.|date=January 28, 2005|title=Preserving an important collection|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A128605638/AONE?u=spl_main&sid=AONE&xid=d4b1ec3a|journal=Science|volume=307|issue=5709|pages=519|doi=10.1126/science.307.5709.519a|pmid=15681368|s2cid=30534232|via=Gale Academic OneFile}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Dalton|first=Rex|date=June 14, 2001|title=The History Man|work=Nature|publisher=Nature Publishing Group|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A187996469/AONE?u=spl_main&sid=AONE&xid=a4d0c240}}</ref> At the time they were collected, the market value of the archive was unknown as many institutions did not have an interest in keeping the archives of scientists.<ref name=":5" /> After the ] purchased the papers of ] in 2001 for $2.4 million, Norman pursued individual sale of the items in his collection through ].<ref name=":5" /> A lawsuit prevented the individual sale of the items by Norman.<ref name="Preserving_2005" /> Seckel and Norman had a falling out.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pincock|first=Stephen|date=2005|title=Venter buys history|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A136208225/AONE?u=spl_main&sid=AONE&xid=af6ee4c4|journal=The Scientist|volume=19|pages=12|via=Gale Academic OneFile}}</ref> According to Seckel, the sale was canceled due to his extensive documentation that was brought to the attention of Christie's.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dalton|first=Rex|date=March 13, 2003|title=Auction of DNA archive cancelled|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A187661524/AONE?u=spl_main&sid=AONE&xid=d781a3cb|journal=Nature|volume=422|issue=6928|pages=102|doi=10.1038/422102b|pmid=12634743|bibcode=2003Natur.422..102D|s2cid=52817212|via=Gale Academic OneFile|doi-access=free}}</ref> Although former colleagues and associates of ] and Crick attempted to raise the asking price of $3.2 million in an effort to have the collection donated to the ], the collection was eventually acquired by molecular biologist J. ], with the stated aim of keeping the critical resource available to scholars by housing it at the ].<ref name=":5">{{cite news|author=Nicholas Wade|date=August 10, 2005|title=Picassos? Warhols? No, This Multimillion-Dollar Collection Stars the Science of DNA|page=A1|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/science/picassos-warhols-no-this-multimilliondollar-collection-stars-the.html|quote=After the Crick papers passed out of reach, Mr. Norman decided to put the collection up for auction at Christie's. According to an article in Nature in 2003, Mr. Seckel objected to the sale, saying he had promised the sellers that their collections of papers would not be broken up, and said he would go to court if necessary to block the proceedings.}}</ref> | ||
| === Lawsuits and disputes === | === Lawsuits and disputes === | ||
| Seckel was sued on several occasions after disputes over rare-book investment and sales.<ref name="Tablet2015">{{Cite web |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/191806/the-illusionist-al-seckel|title=The Illusionist |last=Oppenheimer |first=Mark |work=Tablet (magazine)|date=July 20, 2015 | |
Seckel was sued on several occasions after disputes over rare-book investment and sales.<ref name="Tablet2015">{{Cite web |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/191806/the-illusionist-al-seckel|title=The Illusionist |last=Oppenheimer |first=Mark |work=Tablet (magazine)|date=July 20, 2015 |access-date=March 11, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Filthy Rich|last1=Patterson|first1=James|last2=Connolly|first2=John|last3=Malloy|first3=Tim|publisher=Little Brown and Company|year=2016|isbn=9780316274050|location=New York|pages=233–236}}</ref> | ||
| In a '']'' article from 1994, Tom McIver (author of ''Anti-Evolution: An Annotated Bibliography'') accused Seckel of failing to disclose financial information as leader of the Southern California Skeptics and misrepresenting his academic credentials.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1994/nov/03/cover-a-little-bit-east-of-eden/#|title=Evolution debate on full display – Creation Museum in Santee, A little bit east of Eden|last=McIver|first=Tom|date=November 3, 1994|work=San Diego Reader|access-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref> Seckel later sued |
In a '']'' article from 1994, Tom McIver (author of ''Anti-Evolution: An Annotated Bibliography'') accused Seckel of failing to disclose financial information as leader of the Southern California Skeptics and misrepresenting his academic credentials.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1994/nov/03/cover-a-little-bit-east-of-eden/#|title=Evolution debate on full display – Creation Museum in Santee, A little bit east of Eden|last=McIver|first=Tom|date=November 3, 1994|work=San Diego Reader|access-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref> Seckel later sued McIver for libel over edits to his Misplaced Pages page. The suit was settled in 2007 under undisclosed terms.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> | ||
| A 2015 profile of Seckel in ] by |
A 2015 profile of Seckel in ] by Mark Oppenheimer detailed several first-person accounts from individuals who reported that Seckel still owed them money including the widow of one of his mentors, his lawyer, a graduate student, and those who had engaged in rare book deals. The article stated that there were at least 25 cases involving Seckel from 1992 to 2015 in the ] database.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> Oppenheimer reported that Seckel cultivated a false image, both with personal contacts and within the media, of himself as a graduate from Cornell with degrees in physics and math, as an affiliate of and candidate for doctoral degrees at Caltech, and as a scientist conducting research in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard University. Some of these inaccuracies were published in media coverage of Seckel, including in the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1985<ref name="Baker_1985" /> and 1987.<ref name="Tablet2015" /><ref name="Good show" /> | ||
| Seckel was later accused of absconding with over $500,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cawthorne |first=Nigel |date=2021-12-10 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell's former famous friends are conspicuously absent - but her family has rallied |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/world/ghislaine-maxwells-former-famous-friends-are-conspicuously-absent-but-her-family-has-rallied-around-1346935 |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=inews.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| Author George P. Hansen, in an article published in 1992, stated that Seckel embarrassed the ] (]) after it "was discovered that he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hansen|first=George P.|date=January 1992|title=CSICOP and the Skeptics: An Overview|url=http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/CSICOPoverview.htm|journal=The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research|volume=v. 86|page= 39|pages=|access-date=August 5, 2019|quote="Incidents involving Al Seckel have also proved embarrassing for CSICOP. Seckel was an official and active member of the Committee and a founder of the Southern California Skeptics. After years of high profile activity, it was discovered that he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed. Ironically, the Committee had previously prided itself on exposing hoaxers and con artists, but CSICOP has made no public comment on the Seckel affair."|via=}}</ref> | |||
| === |
=== Collaboration with Jeffrey Epstein === | ||
| In 2009 Seckel was involved in organizing a science conference with financier and convicted sex offender ]. The Mindshift conference took place in |
In 2009, Seckel was involved in organizing a science conference with financier and convicted sex offender ]. The Mindshift conference took place in early 2011 on Epstein's private island ].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/strange-saga-jeffrey-epstein-s-link-brock-pierce-1240462|title=The Strange Saga of Jeffrey Epstein's Link to a Child Star Turned Cryptocurrency Mogul|last=Masters|first=Kim|date=September 18, 2019|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en|access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Edwards|first=Bradley J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-vIDwAAQBAJ&q=Al+Seckel+Epstein&pg=PA160|title=Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2020|isbn=9781982148133|pages=160–163}}</ref> In attendance were scientists ], ], ],<ref name=":0" /> and ],<ref name=":2" /> in addition to the actor and cryptocurrency proponent ].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> | ||
| An interview between Jeffrey Epstein and Al Seckel discussing perception appeared on Epstein's science website on October 17, 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http:/ |
An interview between Jeffrey Epstein and Al Seckel discussing perception appeared on Epstein's science website on October 17, 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jeffreyepsteinscience.com/2010/10/jeffrey-epstein-talks-perception-with-al-seckel/|title=Jeffrey Epstein Talks Perception with Al Seckel|date=October 17, 2010|website=Jeffrey Epstein Science|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112051416/http://www.jeffreyepsteinscience.com/2010/10/jeffrey-epstein-talks-perception-with-al-seckel/|archive-date=November 12, 2010|access-date=July 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
| === Other professional associations === | |||
| * Seckel was a member of the ], an international association of scientists and writers.<ref name = "EdgeBio">{{cite web |title=Al Seckel |publisher=Edge: The Third Culture |url=https://www.edge.org/memberbio/al_seckel |accessdate=August 3, 2019}}</ref> | |||
| * Seckel was one of the contributors to G4G9, the ninth ] conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304370304575151970094262604|title=Gathering for Gardner|last=Crease|first=Robert P.|date=April 2, 2010|website=Wall Street Journal Opinion|publisher=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref> | |||
| ==Personal life== | ==Personal life== | ||
| ⚫ | Seckel married Laura Mullen in 1980; their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1987. Mullen and Seckel later divorced. His second marriage was to ] in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada: it was never annulled.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> Seckel married for a third time to Alice Klarke; the union was dissolved in 2007. Seckel became involved with ] from 2007 until his death in France in 2015.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> | ||
| From approximately 2010 until 2015, Seckel lived in France.<ref name="Tablet2015" /><ref name=":3" /> Seckel's body was reportedly found at the bottom of a cliff in July 2015 in France.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Dana|date=August 18, 2019|title=Jeffrey Epstein 'Friend' Ghislaine Maxwell Has More Skeletons in Her Family Closet Than a House of Horrors|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-friend-ghislaine-maxwell-has-more-skeletons-in-her-family-closet-than-a-house-of-horrors|access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> As of September 2021,<ref name=":3" /> his death remained unconfirmed by French authorities.<ref name=bridgetread>{{citation|access-date=November 5, 2020|url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/ghislaine-maxwell-family-twin-sisters.html|title=The Epstein Case: Ghislaine Maxwell's Twin Sisters Have Their Own Wild Stories|first=Bridget|last=Read|date=August 21, 2019|work=]|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709072727/https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/ghislaine-maxwell-family-twin-sisters.html}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" /> | |||
| ⚫ | Seckel married Laura Mullen in 1980; their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1987. |
||
| From approximately 2010 until his death in 2015, Seckel lived in France.<ref name="Tablet2015" /> According to the '']'' and his personal website, he died near his home in France. The day of death was not specifically listed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Al P. Seckel|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sgvtribune/obituary.aspx?n=al-p-seckel&pid=175897677|website=Obituaries|publisher=San Gabriel Valley Tribune|accessdate=September 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=AL SECKEL 1958 - 2015|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624014020/http://www.alseckel.net/|website=Al Seckel website (archived)|accessdate=August 7, 2019}}</ref> | |||
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Latest revision as of 22:47, 14 November 2024
American collector and skeptic (1958–2015) | The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (July 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Al Seckel | |
|---|---|
 Seckel in 2009 | |
| Born | Alfred Paul Seckel (1958-09-03)September 3, 1958 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 2015 (aged 56) France |
| Education | Cornell University, no degree |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, scientific skeptic |
| Known for | Popularizer of optical illusions |
| Spouses |
(until 2007) |
| Partners | Isabel Maxwell (2007–2015; his death) |
| Parents |
|
Alfred Paul "Al" Seckel (September 3, 1958 – 2015) was an American collector and popularizer of visual and other types of sensory illusions, who wrote books about them. Active in the Freethought movement as a skeptic in the 1980s, he was the co-founder and executive director of the Southern California Skeptics. News coverage arising from his connection to Jeffrey Epstein has stressed Seckel's misrepresentation of his education and credentials.
Early life
Seckel was born September 3, 1958, in New York City, New York to Paul Bernard Seckel, a German-born painter and graphic artist, and Ruth Schonthal, a German-born pianist and classical composer. His mother was a refugee from the Nazis. Seckel was raised in a Jewish household. He grew up in New Rochelle, NY with his two brothers. Seckel graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1976. He attended Cornell University from 1976 to 1978 but left without receiving a degree.
In 1981, Seckel moved to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, where he lived for nearly thirty years.
Career
Freethought movement
Throughout the 1980s, Seckel was active in the Freethought movement and generated 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, began to manufacture plastic car ornaments with the Darwin fish in 1990, and licensed the design to Evolution Design of Austin, Texas. When the emblem evolved into a million-dollar business, Evolution Design threatened to sue distributors of look-alike and derivative products. Seckel in turn sued Evolution Design for copyright infringement. Although Seckel produced examples of the design that predated Gilman's 1990 copyright date, the suit was settled when it was determined 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, primarily held at the California Institute of Technology, with other meetings occasionally held on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, that explained alleged paranormal phenomena such as extra-sensory perception and firewalking. Seckel was the founder and executive director of SCS. An article published in New Scientist in 1985 states that the Southern California Skeptics were "the fastest growing chapter of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)". Author George P. Hansen, in an article published in 1992, stated that incidents involving Seckel had embarrassed CSICOP because "he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed."
The Southern California Skeptics dissolved after the late 1980s. In 1991, Michael Shermer and Pat Linse co-founded a new Los Angeles-area skeptical group called The Skeptics Society after the Southern California Skeptics had disbanded.
Visual illusions
Seckel was "a leading collector and popularizer" of optical illusions.
In 1994, he created an interactive website on illusions. He also developed visual illusion installations for museums.
Seckel's books about optical illusions include several picture books for children such as Ambiguous Illusions (2005), Action Optical Illusions (2005) and Stereo Optical Illusions (2006).
His book, Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali, and the Artists of Optical Illusion (2004), collects the work of many visual illusion artists, including among others Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593), Salvador Dalí (1904–1989), M. C. Escher (1898–1972), and Rex Whistler (1905–1944). His book The Art of Optical Illusions placed first on the American Library Association's "Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" list for 2001.
He gave many lectures about such illusions, including an early TED talk (2004) and a talk at the World Economic Forum, Davos in 2011.
Other activities
Rare book investment and sales
During the late 1990s, Seckel collected the papers of a number of early molecular biologists (including Rosalind Franklin, Aaron Klug, Max Perutz, Rollin Hotchkiss, and Sven Furberg) for rare-book dealer Jeremy Norman. At the time they were collected, the market value of the archive was unknown as many institutions did not have an interest in keeping the archives of scientists. After the Wellcome Trust purchased the papers of Francis Crick in 2001 for $2.4 million, Norman pursued individual sale of the items in his collection through Christie's. A lawsuit prevented the individual sale of the items by Norman. Seckel and Norman had a falling out. According to Seckel, the sale was canceled due to his extensive documentation that was brought to the attention of Christie's. Although former colleagues and associates of James Watson and Crick attempted to raise the asking price of $3.2 million in an effort to have the collection donated to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the collection was eventually acquired by molecular biologist J. Craig Venter, with the stated aim of keeping the critical resource available to scholars by housing it at the J. Craig Venter Institute.
Lawsuits and disputes
Seckel was sued on several occasions after disputes over rare-book investment and sales.
In a San Diego Reader article from 1994, Tom McIver (author of Anti-Evolution: An Annotated Bibliography) accused Seckel of failing to disclose financial information as leader of the Southern California Skeptics and misrepresenting his academic credentials. Seckel later sued McIver for libel over edits to his Misplaced Pages page. The suit was settled in 2007 under undisclosed terms.
A 2015 profile of Seckel in Tablet Magazine by Mark Oppenheimer detailed several first-person accounts from individuals who reported that Seckel still owed them money including the widow of one of his mentors, his lawyer, a graduate student, and those who had engaged in rare book deals. The article stated that there were at least 25 cases involving Seckel from 1992 to 2015 in the Los Angeles Superior Court database. Oppenheimer reported that Seckel cultivated a false image, both with personal contacts and within the media, of himself as a graduate from Cornell with degrees in physics and math, as an affiliate of and candidate for doctoral degrees at Caltech, and as a scientist conducting research in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard University. Some of these inaccuracies were published in media coverage of Seckel, including in the Los Angeles Times in 1985 and 1987.
Seckel was later accused of absconding with over $500,000.
Collaboration with Jeffrey Epstein
In 2009, Seckel was involved in organizing a science conference with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Mindshift conference took place in early 2011 on Epstein's private island Little Saint James. In attendance were scientists Murray Gell-Mann, Leonard Mlodinow, Gerald Sussman, and Frances Arnold, in addition to the actor and cryptocurrency proponent Brock Pierce.
An interview between Jeffrey Epstein and Al Seckel discussing perception appeared on Epstein's science website on October 17, 2010.
Personal life
Seckel married Laura Mullen in 1980; their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1987. Mullen and Seckel later divorced. His second marriage was to Denice D. Lewis in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada: it was never annulled. Seckel married for a third time to Alice Klarke; the union was dissolved in 2007. Seckel became involved with Isabel Maxwell from 2007 until his death in France in 2015.
From approximately 2010 until 2015, Seckel lived in France. Seckel's body was reportedly found at the bottom of a cliff in July 2015 in France. As of September 2021, his death remained unconfirmed by French authorities.
Bibliography
- Science and the Paranormal. SCS Publishing (1987)
- Bertrand Russell on God and Religion. (Seckel, editor), Prometheus Books (1986) ISBN 0-87975-323-4
- Bertrand Russell on Sex, Marriage, and Morals. (Seckel, editor), Prometheus Books (1987) ISBN 0-87975-400-1
- The Art of Optical Illusions. Carlton Books (2000) ISBN 1-84222-054-3
- Great Book of Optical Illusions. Firefly Books (2004) ISBN 1-55297-650-5
- Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali, and the Artists of Optical Illusion. Sterling Books (2004) ISBN 1-4027-0577-8
- Incredible Visual Illusions. (with Rebecca Panayiotou and Tessa Rose, editors), Arcturus Books (2005) ISBN 1-84193-197-7
- Action Optical Illusions. Sterling Books (2005) ISBN 1-4027-1828-4
- Impossible Optical Illusions. Sterling Books (2005) ISBN 1-4027-1830-6
- Stereo Optical Illusions. Sterling Books (2006) ISBN 1-4027-1833-0
- Optical Illusions: The Science of Visual Perception. Firefly Books (2006) ISBN 1-55407-172-0
References
- ^ Read, Bridget (August 21, 2019), "The Epstein Case: Ghislaine Maxwell's Twin Sisters Have Their Own Wild Stories", New York Magazine: The Cut, archived from the original on July 9, 2020, retrieved November 5, 2020
- ^ Stewart, Doug (November 1986). "Wheels go round and round, but always run down". Smithsonian. 17: 193+ – via Gale General OneFile.
- Armstrong, Stephen (December 30, 2021). "The stranger-than-fiction history of the Maxwell madhouse". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
. . . Epstein's Mindshift conference – a TED Talk rival co-founded with Al Seckel. As befits a suitor for arguably the strangest family in the world, Seckel socialised with the likes of Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, Elon Musk and Dudley Moore, and convinced many people that he was a cognitive neuroscientist with ties to Cal Tech. In fact, he was a top-notch charlatan who had failed to graduate from college – but he delighted in delivering TED Talks and publishing books on the science of visual illusions.
- ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (July 20, 2015). "The Illusionist". Tablet (magazine). Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- ^ Lubman, Sarah (December 21, 1995). "Which came first? Copyright battle brewing over evolution of Darwin fish". The Free Lance-Star. Knight-Ridder News Service. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- Berta Delgado (March 15, 1998). "Filleting their foes through a fish". The Record (Bergen County, NJ). p. L05. (originally published in the Dallas Morning News)
- Rheinhold, Robert (April 8, 1988). "Winning the West from Nostradamus". The New York Times. p. A14. Retrieved July 3, 2020. Note: This article inaccurately states that Seckel was a physicist.
- CSICOP in China, The Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 12 no. 4, Summer, 1988; p. 346.
- ^ Baker, Bob (April 21, 1985). "A Skeptical View: Doubting Academics Waging a Flamboyant Battle to Debunk Society's Fascination With Popular Theories". Los Angeles Times. p. A3. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Newton, Edmund (January 4, 1987). "No Doubt About It--The Skeptics Put On Good Show". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "Feedback in Los Angeles". New Scientist. Vol. 106, no. 1459. Reed Business Information. June 6, 1985. p. 28. ISSN 0262-4079. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- Hansen, George P. (January 1992). "CSICOP and the Skeptics: An Overview". The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. 86: 39. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
Incidents involving Al Seckel have also proved embarrassing for CSICOP. Seckel was an official and active member of the Committee and a founder of the Southern California Skeptics. After years of high profile activity, it was discovered that he did not hold the academic credentials he claimed. Ironically, the Committee had previously prided itself on exposing hoaxers and con artists, but CSICOP has made no public comment on the Seckel affair.
- Ibold, Hans (November 13, 2000). "L.A.'s Own Ghostbuster". Los Angeles Business Journal. 22 (46).
Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptic Society in Pasadena.
- Loxton, Daniel (November 2009). "The Paradoxical Future of Skepticism". Skeptical Inquirer. 33 (6). Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
- Shermer, Michael (June 22, 2021). "All Our Yesterdays: A Remembrance of Pat Linse". Skeptic (Altadena, CA). 26 (3): 64–71.
- Smith, Scott S. (April 2000). "Schism in the Church of the Left Brain" (PDF). Fate. pp. 36–37. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- Shermer, Michael (June 2000). "Letter in response to Schism in the Church of the Left Brain" (PDF). Fate. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- Voss, David. "Seeing is believing." Science. (1997) Vol. 275, p. 792.
- O'Connell, Pamela Licalzi (April 16, 1998). "Screen Grab; See the Spiral Spin, See Your Skin Crawl!". New York Times. p. G10. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- Kaiser, Jocelyn (1998). "Eye twisters". Science. 280: 1163. doi:10.1126/science.280.5367.1163c. S2CID 220089708 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
Al Seckel, vice president of a company called IllusionWorks LLC that produces exhibits for museums
- "YALSA announces Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" (January 2001). American Library Association Press Release.
- ^ Zinder, Norton; Roberts, Richard J. (January 28, 2005). "Preserving an important collection". Science. 307 (5709): 519. doi:10.1126/science.307.5709.519a. PMID 15681368. S2CID 30534232 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
- Dalton, Rex (June 14, 2001). "The History Man". Nature. Nature Publishing Group.
- ^ Nicholas Wade (August 10, 2005). "Picassos? Warhols? No, This Multimillion-Dollar Collection Stars the Science of DNA". The New York Times. p. A1.
After the Crick papers passed out of reach, Mr. Norman decided to put the collection up for auction at Christie's. According to an article in Nature in 2003, Mr. Seckel objected to the sale, saying he had promised the sellers that their collections of papers would not be broken up, and said he would go to court if necessary to block the proceedings.
- Pincock, Stephen (2005). "Venter buys history". The Scientist. 19: 12 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
- Dalton, Rex (March 13, 2003). "Auction of DNA archive cancelled". Nature. 422 (6928): 102. Bibcode:2003Natur.422..102D. doi:10.1038/422102b. PMID 12634743. S2CID 52817212 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
- ^ Patterson, James; Connolly, John; Malloy, Tim (2016). Filthy Rich. New York: Little Brown and Company. pp. 233–236. ISBN 9780316274050.
- McIver, Tom (November 3, 1994). "Evolution debate on full display – Creation Museum in Santee, A little bit east of Eden". San Diego Reader. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- Cawthorne, Nigel (December 10, 2021). "Ghislaine Maxwell's former famous friends are conspicuously absent - but her family has rallied". inews.co.uk. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
- ^ Masters, Kim (September 18, 2019). "The Strange Saga of Jeffrey Epstein's Link to a Child Star Turned Cryptocurrency Mogul". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ Edwards, Bradley J. (2020). Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Simon and Schuster. pp. 160–163. ISBN 9781982148133.
- "Jeffrey Epstein Talks Perception with Al Seckel". Jeffrey Epstein Science. October 17, 2010. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Kennedy, Dana (August 18, 2019). "Jeffrey Epstein 'Friend' Ghislaine Maxwell Has More Skeletons in Her Family Closet Than a House of Horrors". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 27, 2021.