Joseph A. Schwarcz

Joseph A. Schwarcz
Dr. Joe giving a presentation for the Trafalgar School for Girls
Born Sopron, Hungary
Residence Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Education PhD chemistry McGill University (1973)
Occupation Teacher, Science communicator, Author

Joseph A. Schwarcz is an author and a professor at McGill University. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science and Society, which is dedicated to demystifying science for the public. He hosts a weekly radio show and is known, via his science popularization efforts as Dr. Joe. He is the only non-American to receive the Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.

Early life

Schwarcz is an only child, born in Sopron, Hungary[1] to Jewish parents. During the Hungarian uprising in 1956, when he was age 9, the family escaped over the border to Austria and migrated to Canada and settled in Montreal, Quebec.[2] Schwarcz attended Logan school on Darlington and went on to McGill University, Montreal where he attained a BSc (1969)[3] and PhD (1973) in chemistry.[1]

Schwarcz became interested in magic and chemistry at the age of 9 when he saw a magician perform a rope trick at a school friend's birthday party. "Instead of using the usual magic words like Abracadabra, he said that he was going to sprinkle a ‘Magic Chemical’ on the ropes." Schwarcz was so intrigued by the trick that he went to the library and looked up chemistry; he has had a keen interest in both since that day.[2][4]

Biography

Schwarcz started his teaching career at Dawson College before moving on to Vanier College[1][2]. He served as chair of the Department of Chemistry at both colleges. Schwarcz returned to McGill University where he teaches in courses in the Department of Chemistry and Faculty of Medicine at McGill University with an emphasis on alternative medicine.[1]

In 1999 Schwarcz became the founding director of the McGill University Office for Science and Society (OSS) with Ariel Fenster and David N. Harpp. The OSS "...is a unique venture dedicated to the promotion of critical thinking and the presentation of scientific information to the public, educators and students in an accurate and responsible fashion." As the director of the OSS he takes on health fads and the celebrities who promote them. He has used his knowledge of magic to debunk Uri Geller, and show how supernatural feats can be done by ordinary means.[5] In November 2011 Lorne Trottier donated $5.5 million to the OSS to continue their work, and to maintain the Trottier Science Symposium.[6][7][8]

Even as a university student Schwarcz found chemistry to be a dry subject[2] so he established a series of courses designed to bring chemistry to the common student, and later to the public through a series of lectures.[1] The lectures include magic and spontaneity to keep the audience interested.

"A good lecturer is also an actor. A lecture should seem spontaneous, even if it's been given many times before... You capture the audience's attention. Then, without their realizing it, you pump a little scientific information into their brains. Before they know it, they've learned something."[4]

In 2010, 2012, and 2016/17 Schwarcz was nominated by McGill University as one of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers. At the festivals he spoke to middle and high school students about his work and career.[9]

Schwarcz began his media career in 1980 after meeting Montreal Gazette reporter Ted Blackman at the Man and His World exhibition when he was demonstrating how to make polyurethane from two liquids. Blackman reported on Schwarcz's demonstration and made a significant error. Schwarcz wrote to the Gazette and pointed out the error which resulted in Blackman printing a retraction. Radio station CJAD picked up the story and called Schwarcz to talk about it on air. The following week another scientific issue arose and Schwarcz was called on again; he has been working for the CJAD ever since,[2] and now hosts his own weekly radio show called the Dr. Joe Show.[10]

Schwarcz has appeared hundreds of times on Canadian television and radio, including his own show about common foods called Science to Go on the Canadian Discovery Channel. He writes a weekly column for the Montreal Gazette called The Right Chemistry and a monthly column in the Canadian Chemical News. He was the chief consultant on two Reader's Digest books: Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal and The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs.[11]

In 1999 Schwarcz was awarded the Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public.[12] He is the only non-American to win the award.[13]

Schwarcz was the joint winner of the 2014 Center for Skeptical Inquiry Robert P Balles Prize for skeptical thinking for his book Is This a Fact?[14]

Schwarcz has honorary doctorates from Athabasca University (2002),[15] and Cape Breton University (2011).[1][11]

Personal life

Schwarcz enjoys cooking, and had his own line of Hungarian goulash which was sold at his local Qualitifruits store.[2][16] He is a keen sports fan and played hockey and baseball in his youth. Schwarcz is a lover of Broadway theatre and often travels to New York to see shows. He likes to take a cruise when on vacation.[2]

Schwarcz and his wife Alice were married in 1973 and have three children.[1][2] Alice died in March 2016.[17]

Awards

Speaking at CSICon 2016

Selected bibliography

  • A Feast of Science: Intriguing Morsels from the Science of Everyday Life (2018, ISBN 978-1-77041-192-0)
  • Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules Separating Fact from Fiction, and the Science of Everyday Life (2015, ISBN 978-1-77041-191-3)
  • Is That a Fact?: Frauds, Quacks, and the Real Science of Everyday Life (2014, ISBN 978-1-770-41190-6)
  • Dr. Joe's Health Lab: 164 Amazing Insights into the Science of Medicine, Nutrition and Well-being (2011, ISBN 978-0-385-67156-9)
  • Dr. Joe's Brain Sparks: 179 Inspiring and Enlightening Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life (2010, ISBN 978-0-385-66930-6)
  • Science, Sense & Nonsense (2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66604-6)
  • Brain Fuel: 199 Mind-Expanding Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life (2008, ISBN 978-0-385-66602-2)
  • An Apple A Day: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths About the Foods We Eat (2007, ISBN 978-0-00-200764-1)
  • Let Them Eat Flax: 70 All-New Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Food & Life (2005, ISBN 1-55022-698-3)
  • The Fly in the Ointment: 70 Fascinating Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Life (2004, ISBN 1-55022-621-5)
  • That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles: 62 All-New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life (2004, ISBN 1-55022-520-0)
  • Dr. Joe and What You Didn’t Know: 177 Fascinating Questions about the Chemistry of Everyday Life (2003, ISBN 9781550225778)
  • The Genie in the Bottle: 68 All New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life (2001, ISBN 1-55022-442-5)
  • Radar, Hula Hoops, and Playful Pigs: 67 Digestible Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life (2001, ISBN 0-8050-7407-4)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Honorary Degree Recipients - Joseph A. Schwarcz". cbu.ca. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ""Dr. Joe" – everyone's favourite scientist". themontrealeronline.com. 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 Judy, Howard (16 October 1998). "Canadian Wins Top Chemistry Reporting Award". American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  4. 1 2 Kerr, Ellyn (5 November 1998). "Casting spells for scientific literacy". mcgill.ca. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  5. ↑ Schwarcz, Joe. "Silly Stuff". The Genie in the Bottle. ECW Press. p. 271. ISBN 1-55022-442-5.
  6. ↑ Latimer, Joanne (22 March 2017). "Quackbuster Joe Schwarcz takes on charlatans". macleans.ca. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Lorne Trottier - Office for Science and Society McGill University". mcgill.ca. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Seidman, Karen (16 November 2011). "Dr. Joe serves notice to quacks: $5.5-million gift for Office for Science". The Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "Past Speakers for the USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Symposium and Nifty Fifty Program" (PDF). USA Science and Engineering Festival. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  10. ↑ "The Dr. Joe Show". iheartradio.ca. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Joe Schwarcz". acs.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public". acs.org. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Dr Joe Schwarcz PhD - Office for Science and Society - McGill University". mcgill.ca. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Cosmos, Joe Schwarcz Win Skeptics' Critical Thinking Prize". Skeptical Inquirer. CSICOP. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  15. 1 2 "ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY – HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS" (PDF). athabascau.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "A pinch of paprika, a dash of parsley". mcgill.ca. 25 April 2002. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  17. ↑ "Obituary Alice Schwarcz". legacy.com. 29 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017.
  18. ↑ The McNeil Medal for the public awareness of science, Royal Society of Canada, 2011, retrieved 9 December 2011
  19. ↑ "Joe Schwarcz.(Distinction)(2005 Sanford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute)", Canadian Chemical News, 1 October 2005, retrieved 9 December 2011
  20. ↑ Canada annual awards ceremony and dinner, Society of Chemical Industry, 25 March 2010, retrieved 9 December 2011
  21. ↑ Montreal Medal Award Recipients, Chemical Institute of Canada, 2011, retrieved 9 December 2011
  22. ↑ "Celebrating researchers who help spread the word". McGill Reporter. March 27, 2018. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
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