Brian Regal is an American historian of science, skeptic and writer. He is an associate professor of the history of science at Kean University in New Jersey.^[1][2]

Regal is the author of an encyclopedia of pseudoscience, as well as Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads and Cryptozoology, a scholarly study on cryptozoology.^[3][4] He has also written on the history of the Jersey Devil.^[5]

Early life

Regal grew up in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood, in a Catholic family. He developed an early interest for science and the mysterious, which he attributes to television series such as Jonny Quest and later In Search of....^[6]

Discouraged from pursuing higher education by a high school guidance counselor ("kids like you don't go to college"), Regal joined the armed forces, serving as a tank commander.^[7]

Academic career

Going to college after his military career, he graduated with a B.A. in History from Kean University in 1995, then a M.A. in American History and Literature at Drew University (1996) and a Doctorate in Modern History and Literature from Drew University (2001). He teaches at Kean University, where he holds the title of Associate Professor for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.^[8]

Regal has long been interested on how theories of human evolution have been received by the public and by religious authorities. His first two books, Henry Fairfield Osborn: Race and the Search for the Origins of Man and Human Evolution: A Guide to the Debates, explore that theme.^[9]

In 2005, he realized that Grover Krantz's estate donated his notes and papers to the Smithsonian Institution after his death in 2002, where they remained unread. Within the collection, Regal found a significant amount of source documents on the founding of American cryptozoology. Those documents were the starting point for The Secret History of the Jersey Devil.^[10]

As of 2021, he was working on a book about various alternative theories of Europeans coming to North America before Christopher Columbus and how those theories relate to the sociopolitical context of the period when they appear.^[6][8][10]

He is a member of the history journal Endeavour.^[11]

Publications

Books

• Regal, Brian (2022). The Battle over America's Origin Story: Legends, Amateurs, and Professional Historiographers. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. ISBN 978-3030995379.^[12]
• Regal, Brian; Esposito, Frank J. (2018). The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created a Monster. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1421424897.^[13]
• Regal, Brian (2011). Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-0230111479.
• Regal, Brian (2009). Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0313355073.
• Regal, Brian (2007). Icons of Evolution: An Encyclopedia of People, Evidence, and Controversies. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0313339110.
• Regal, Brian (2005). Radio: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0313331671.
• Regal, Brian (2004). Human Evolution: A Guide to the Debates. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1851094189.
• Regal, Brian (2002). Henry Fairfield Osborn: Race and the Search for the Origins of Man. Routledge. ISBN 978-0754605874.

Selected Papers

• Regal, Brian (Summer 2020). "Cornelia Horsford and the Adventures of Leif Erikson: Viking Settlements in the Bay State". Historical Journal of Massachusetts. 48 (2): 36–59 – via Gale Academic.
• Regal, Brian (Summer 2015). "The Jersey Devil: a political animal". New Jersey Studies. 1 (1): 79–103 – via ResearchGate.
• Regal, Brian (June 2012). "Richard Owen and the Sea-Serpent". Endeavour. 36 (2): 65–68. doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2011.12.001. PMID 22305471.
• Regal, Brian (January 2009). "Entering Dubious Realms: Grover Krantz, Science and Sasquatch". Annals of Science. 66 (1): 83–102. doi:10.1080/00033790802202421. PMID 19831199. S2CID 23736660.