 | |
| Parent company | The Globe Pequot Publishing Group |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1969; 57 years ago (1969) |
| Founder | Paul Kurtz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Amherst, New York |
| Key people | Jonathan Kurtz, President |
| Nonfiction topics | Skeptical literature,atheism |
| Imprints | Humanity Books (for academic works in thehumanities) |
| Official website | prometheusbooks |
Prometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by the philosopherPaul Kurtz (who was also the founder of theCouncil for Secular Humanism,Center for Inquiry, and co-founder of theCommittee for Skeptical Inquiry).[1][2] The publisher's name was derived fromPrometheus, theTitan fromGreek mythology who stole fire fromZeus and gave it to man. This act is often used as a metaphor for bringing knowledge or enlightenment.[3][4]
Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, focusing on topics such asscience,freethought,secularism,humanism, andskepticism. It has published in the "atheism" category since its founding in 1969, and is considered the "grandfather" of atheist publishing in America.[5]
Their headquarters is located inAmherst, New York, and they publish worldwide. Jonathan Kurtz was an executive editor of Prometheus.[6]Rowman & Littlefield acquired Prometheus Books in 2019.[7] Rowman & Littlefield changed its name to The Globe Pequot Publishing Group after the sale of its academic publishing business toBloomsbury Publishing in 2024, keeping Prometheus Books as one of its imprints.
The publisher has roughly 1,700 books currently in print,[8] and publishes approximately 95–100 books per year.[9] Since its founding, Prometheus Books has published more than 2,500 books.[10]
Prometheus Books obtained the bulk of the books and manuscripts ofHumanities Press International in 1998.[11][12] It has been building and expanding this into a scholarlyimprint namedHumanity Books. This imprint publishes academic works across a wide spectrum of the humanities and is now distributed by the academic division of Rowman & Littlefield.[13]
In March 2005, Prometheus Books launched the science fiction and fantasy imprintPyr.[14] In October 2012 it launched the crime fiction imprintSeventh Street Books.[15] In 2018, it sold both imprints.[16]
Prometheus has been involved in two "major libel lawsuits."[17] In 1992Uri Geller suedVictor J. Stenger and Prometheus Books for libel over his bookPhysics and Psychics.[18] The suit was dismissed and Geller was required to pay more than $20,000 in costs to the defendant.[19] Geller also sued Prometheus for publishingThe Truth About Uri Geller byJames Randi, a book that he said was defamatory.[20][21]
In 2013 Prometheus Books partnered withRandom House in an effort to increase sales and distribution.[22]
In 2019, it was acquired byRowman & Littlefield,[23][7] and Random House ceased sales and distribution of its titles as of June 30, 2019.[8] Its building was sold in early 2019 for over $1 million.[24]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Self proclaimed "psychic" Uri Geller had to dismiss a multi-million dollar libel suit and has to pay over $20,000 in sanctions in an action he brought against skeptical book publisher Prometheus Books of Amherst, New York.
prometheus books lawsuit uri geller.
