SCEPTICAL ALWAYS

A collection of yarns, politically incorrect opinions and experiences by a larrikin anti-establishment professor of geology. He has lived life and seen too much of totalitarianism and fundamentalism, be it in politics, religion or science, and seeks evidence and not propaganda. As a scientist, his training has made him sceptical and critical of everything and he is intolerant of intolerance. His university life has been intertwined with a corporate and bush life. Any child who becomes apoplectic about the internet dropping out for an hour needs a reality check and should read about their contemporaries in other countries.

PROFESSOR IAN PLIMER is Australia's best-known geologist and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head of Earth Sciences (1991-2005). He is currently a director of various Hancock Prospecting companies. He previously served as Professor and Head of Geology at the University of Newcastle (1985-1991), Professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide (2006-2012), and Research Professor of Ore Deposits at Ludwig Maximilians Universit¤t, Munich (1991). He also held positions at the University of New England, the University of New South Wales, and Macquarie University. Plimer has published over 140 scientific papers and co-edited the five-volume Encyclopedia of Geology.