You may have noticed... (Part 2)
Continued from Part 1
Tim Minchin - Famous Australian musician, composer, songwriter, actor, comedian and writer. Minchin is best known for his award winning musical comedies, beat poems and has preformed a number of live comedy shows around the world. Many of his songs include themes such as environmentalism, rationalism, prejudice, and logical fallacies. In October 2010 he was made a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.
Gloria Steinem - American journalist, author, and social-political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader and spokeswoman of the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. She co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 and launched Ms magazine the same year. Steinem was named the American Humanist Association's 2012 Humanist of the Year for her activism in feminism and LGBT rights.
Rod Serling - Known primarily for his role as the host of television’s The Twilight Zone, Serling was also known as a talanted writer, a producer, and for many years a teacher. He wrote and co-wrote many award winning screenplays including Seven Days in May, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and The Planet of the Apes. Serling often used humanistic themes in his works including controversial issues such as civil rights and the Cold War.
Buckminster Fuller - American philosopher, systems theorist, architect, inventor and futurist. His inventions include geodesic domes, synergetics, and dymaxion housing and car. Fuller was named Humanist of the Year in 1969 by the American Humanist Association for his lifetime of work and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.
Paul Kurtz - Was a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo and is known as "the father of secular humanism”. He was the founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Center for Inquiry and was an editor for the Free Inquiry and The Humanist. He published over 800 articles or reviews and authored over 50 books. He co-authored the Second Humanist Manifesto and A Secular Humanist Declaration.
Steve Wozniak - also known as “Woz” is an American inventor, philanthropist, electronics engineer, and programmer. He co-founded Apple Computer, Inc. with Steve Jobs. He independently designed and invented the Apple I, a so-called "Homebrew" design built largely in Steve Jobs's garage, and Apple II computers in the 1970s. His famous patent, US Patent No. 4,136,359: "Microcomputer for use with video display,” was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He left Apple in 1987 and went on to found numerous ventures in Silicon Valley including CL9, which produced the first programmable universal remote control. In 2001, Wozniak founded Wheels of Zeus (WoZ), a venture started with the aim of developing wireless GPS technology. The American Humanist Association awarded him the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2011 at the 70th Annual Conference.
Linus Pauling - American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. Through his works, Pauling became one of the founders of the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. During World War II, he analyzed chemical bond structure at the place and worked on the development of explosives, gas detectors and missiles for US Navy. He later detested the war and in 1946 joined Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, chaired by fellow humanist Albert Einstein. For the rest of his life, he continued to advocate for world peace and focused his research in chemistry as a way to help humanity. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his anti-war activism, becoming the only Nobel laureate to have ever won two unshared Nobel Prizes. In 1961, Pauling was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association.
Bertrand Russell - Philosopher, mathematician, academic, and campaigner for social equality. Russell was an early supporter of LGBT rights and led the British "revolt against idealism" in the early 20th century. He was a considered a major influence in logic theory, mathematics, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, and philosophy. Russell was a prominent anti-war activist and even went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. He later campaigned against Adolf Hitler and criticised Stalinist totalitarianism. He denounced the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.” He was a member of the Advisory Council of the British Humanist Association and President of Cardiff Humanists until his death in 1970.
James Randi - World famous Canadian-American stage magician, Randi is also well known for his challenges to paranormal and pseudoscience claims. He’s been featured on many news programs including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Anderson Cooper 360°, The Tonight Show, 20/20, and Nova: Secrets of the Psychics which looked into Randi's life work, particularly with his investigations of pseudoscience claims in Russia. He set up the James Randi Educational Foundation in 1996 which later organization the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, which offers a prize of one million U.S. dollars to anyone who can prove a supernatural or paranormal ability. Over a thousand people have attempted to take on the challenge, but so far no one has been successful. In 2003, he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto III and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Humanist Association in 2012.
Ray Bradbury - An American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet. He became one of the most well known science fiction writers for his works such as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. His writings contained many themes of humanistic values and the unethical uses of censorship. He continued to write throughout his life until his death 2012. He was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994, National Medal of Arts in 2004, and a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. In 2012, the NASA Curiosity rover landing site on the planet Mars was named "Bradbury Landing” in honor of his life and work.
Terry Pratchett - An English fantasy novelist, he is best known for the Discworld series, Good Omens, and Nations. Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen to earn enough money to purchase a typewriter. Today, he has sold over 85 million books worldwide in 37 languages. Pratchett is an advocate for Alzheimer's research after being diagnosed with the disease in 2007. He is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
A.C. Grayling - British philosopher and professor, he authored a number of books on secularism and humanism including The Meaning of Things, The Good Book: A Humanist Bible, and The God Argument. Grayling is accredited with the United Nations Human Rights Council, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, and a patron of the British Armed Forces Humanist Association. He currently serves as a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association
Gore Vidal - Was an American novelist, essayist, and playwright. He was well-known for his patrician manner and witty aphorisms. Vidal wrote for a number of magazines such as The Nation, New Statesman, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire. His best known works include the fiction satirical novel Myra Breckinridge and historical novels Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. He was a cowriter for the screenwriting of the epic historical drama Ben-Hur, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1959. In April 2009, Vidal accepted appointment to the position of honorary president of the American Humanist Association, succeeding fellow humanist Kurt Vonnegut.
This is just a short list of accomplished humanists. Hope you learned something and maybe even inspired a bit!
As always, stay awesome!
-OMS
Posted Apr 8, 2014, 10:15 PM UTC · edited