Prometheus Books
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Prometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many about science, especially those of a skeptical nature. Their headquarters are located in Amherst, New York, and they publish worldwide. Authors published by Prometheus include Leon Lederman, Martin Gardner, Antony Flew, Nathan Salmon, Ibn Warraq, George H. Smith, Rob Boston, James Randi, Isaac Asimov, Molefi Asante, S. T. Joshi, Philip J. Klass, Julian Huxley, Frederich Nietzsche, David Ricardo, utilitarian Jeremy Bentham, John Maynard Keynes, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Toles.
Prometheus Books obtained the bulk of the books and manuscripts of Humanities Press International and has been building and expanding this into a scholarly imprint named Humanity Books. This imprint is used to publish academic works across a wide spectrum of the humanities.
In 1992 Uri Geller sued Victor J. Stenger and Prometheus Books. The suit was dismissed and Geller was required to pay more than $20,000 in costs to the defendant.
In March 2005, Prometheus Books launched the science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr.
As of 2006, the company under various imprints has approximately 1,600 books in print and published approximately 95-100 books per year. Since its founding Prometheus Books has published over 2,500 books.
Prometheus Books name was derived from Prometheus, the Titan from Greek mythology who gave fire to man. This act is often used as a metaphor for bringing knowledge.