When James Randi became a household name as the creator of The Amazing Randi, he was not a householdname for the reasons that you might imagine.
After a brief stint as a lecturer, he moved to New York, where he became an assistant professor at the City University of New York.
That job was short-lived, however, as the publisher of the magazine began to withdraw funding.
So Randi went back to his roots, publishing books about science and medicine in the US.
He has since published a series of books that include The Conscience of a Conservative (2006) and The Conscientious Objector (2007), which explores what it is to be a liberal, and is widely regarded as the best of his career.
Here he tells the story of how he came to write books that challenged the establishment.
James Randu is a pseudonym for James E Randi.
It is unclear whether his real name is James E. Randi Jr. or a pseudonym.
It has been suggested that he is James Rand.
For the full story, read The Science and the Conscience.
The Guardian article What does a “conscientious objector” do?
James Rando says that being an objector is the key to being an independent thinker, and that being a conscientious objector helps you be more aware of the social, political and economic consequences of your actions.
What is a conscientious objection?
An objector believes that the actions of others do not align with his or her own.
The most common objections to scientific research are: the data is unreliable (e.g. the effect of antibiotics on the immune system is uncertain)