Shawn Carlson

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Shawn Carlson (born 1960) is an American physicist, science writer, and STEM educator. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Applied Mathematics and Physics from UC Berkeley in 1981, a master’s in physics from UCLA in 1983, and a PhD in Nuclear Physics from UCLA in 1989. As a postdoctoral researcher, Carlson ran the Leuschner Observatory for the Center for Particle Astrophysics at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and served as chief observer for the Berkeley Automated Supernovae Search.

While an undergraduate, Carlson conducted a double-blind test of astrologers, asking 28 astrologers to match over 100 natal charts with psychological profiles from the California Psychological Inventory. The astrologers agreed the test was fair. The results, published in Nature in 1985, showed that astrologers could not do better than chance, undermining the astrological hypothesis.

Carlson left academia in 1994 and founded the Society for Amateur Scientists. He wrote science columns for several outlets, including The Humanist (Science on Society, 1990–1992), Scientific American (The Amateur Scientist, 1995–2001), and Make magazine (The Citizen Scientist, 2005–2007). In 2010 he launched LabRats Science Education Program and serves as its Executive Director, promoting hands-on science and learning for amateur scientists.