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Alan Sokal is an American physicist and mathematician who is best known for his controversial "Sokal Affair" in 1996. He is a professor of physics at New York University and a professor of mathematics at University College London. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sokal was born on January 24, 1955 in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics from Princeton University in 1981. Sokal is best known for his controversial "Sokal Affair" in 1996. He submitted a paper to the journal Social Text, which was accepted and published. The paper was a parody of postmodernism and was intended to show that the journal was willing to publish anything, regardless of its scientific merit. The paper was widely criticized and sparked a debate about the validity of postmodernism. Sokal has written several books, including Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture (2008) and Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science (1998). He has also written numerous articles and papers on physics, mathematics, and philosophy. As of 2021, Alan Sokal's net worth is estimated to be roughly $2 million.

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Age 69 years old
Zodiac Sign Aquarius
Born 24 January, 1955
Birthday 24 January
Birthplace Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality United States

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Alan Sokal Height, Weight & Measurements

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Alan Sokal Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is Alan Sokal worth at the age of 69 years old? Alan Sokal’s income source is mostly from being a successful . He is from United States. We have estimated Alan Sokal's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2023 $1 Million - $5 Million
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Timeline

2013

In 2013 Sokal co-authored a paper with Nicholas Brown and Harris Friedman, rejecting the Losada Line, a concept popular in positive psychology. Named after its proposer, Marcial Losada, it refers to a critical range for an individual's ratio of positive to negative emotions, outside of which the individual will tend to have poorer life and occupational outcomes. This concept of a critical positivity ratio was highly cited and popularised by psychologists such as Barbara Fredrickson. The trio's paper, published in American Psychologist, contended that the ratio was based on faulty mathematical reasoning and therefore invalid.

2008

In 2008, Sokal revisited the Sokal affair and its implications in Beyond the Hoax.

1997

Sokal followed up in 1997 by co-authoring the book Impostures Intellectuelles with physicist and philosopher of science Jean Bricmont (published in English, a year later, as Fashionable Nonsense). The book accuses some social sciences academics of using scientific and mathematical terms incorrectly and criticizes proponents of the "strong program" of the sociology of science for denying the value of truth. The book had contrasted reviews, with some lauding the effort, and some more reserved.

1996

In 1996, Sokal was curious to see whether the then-non-peer-reviewed postmodern cultural studies journal Social Text (published by Duke University Press) would publish a submission which "flattered the editors' ideological preconceptions". Sokal submitted a grand-sounding but completely nonsensical paper titled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity."

After holding the article back from earlier issues due to Sokal's refusal to consider revisions, the staff published it in the "Science Wars" issue as a relevant contribution. Soon thereafter, Sokal then revealed that the article was a hoax in the journal Lingua Franca, arguing that the left and social science would be better served by intellectual underpinnings based on reason. The affair was front-page news in The New York Times on May 18, 1996. Sokal responded to leftist and postmodernist criticism of the deception by asserting that his motivation was to "defend the Left from a trendy segment of itself".

1994

The affair, together with Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt's 1994 book Higher Superstition, can be considered to be a part of the so-called science wars.

1976

Sokal received his BA from Harvard College in 1976 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1981. He was advised by Arthur Wightman. In the summers of 1986, 1987, and 1988, Sokal taught mathematics at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, when the Sandinistas were heading the elected government.

1955

Alan David Sokal (/ˈ s oʊ k əl / ; born January 24, 1955) is a professor of mathematics at University College London and professor of physics at New York University. He works in statistical mechanics and combinatorics. He is a critic of postmodernism, and caused the Sokal affair in 1996 when his deliberately nonsensical paper was published by Duke University Press's Social Text. He also works to counter faulty scientific reasoning, as seen with his involvement in criticising the critical positivity ratio concept in positive psychology.