Parapsychology

This is a "history of ideas" account of the retreat of magical thinking in Europe before the rise of the modern scientific world view. It examines the challenge to this view presented by the physical researchers of the 19th century employing scientific methods and criteria.

A university-level textbook on the science of parapsychology. Dr Irwin outlines the origins of parapsychological research and critically reviews investigations of extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, poltergeist phenomena, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and survival of death. Also, criticisms by the sceptical are presented, and the status of parapsychology as a scientific enterprise is assessed.

The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology covers the history of parapsychology, key international figures, and a decade-by-decade annotated bibliography of research. It includes find information on early psychical researchers from around the globe and how the work of those psychical researchers inspired the creation of the modern field of parapsychology. Alongside biographical entries about key figures are sketches of those at the center of psychical inquiry, like mediums and others who seemingly have the ability to manifest strange phenomena. The Encyclopedia covers the Spiritualism era which influenced early psychical inquiry and how it influenced psychical thought around the globe. More contemporary coverage includes biographical entries for current international researchers who continue to investigate the depths of psi phenomena. In order to provide comprehensive coverage of historical and modern research into psi phenomena, the Encyclopedia features a decade-by-decade bibliography of resources that highlight the shifting theories and experiments of the field, starting from the 1870s and going through the 2020s. This section includes a wide variety of research into topics such as psychokinesis, hauntings, poltergeists (also known as recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis), near-death experiences, extrasensory perception, remote viewing, and much more. Appendices provide information on international parapsychological research organizations and a quick start research guide. With information on key figures and research on an international scale, The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology provides an approachable yet comprehensive compendium of information.

My life with the paranormal / Jule Eisenbud -- The world of psychic phenomena as I came to know it / Montague Ullman -- An autobiographic fragment / Jan Ehrenwald -- Interview with Eileen Coly / Eileen Coly -- Parapsychology / Joseph H. Rush -- Questions and attempts at answers / Gertrude R. Schmeidler -- Interview with Emilio Servadio / Emilio Servadio -- Aspects of psychical research / Renée Haynes -- A positive critic of superstition / Hans Bender -- The paranormal / Karlis Osis -- Eight decades in parapsychology / George Zorab -- Experiences and opinions of an unconventional scientist / Bernard Grad.

The history of humankind cannot be charted as a steady linear upward slope but rather as a series of quantum jumps of short duration separated by plateaus of varying duration during which no progress occurred. During these periods of no progress, the revolutionaries who produced the preceding quantum jump pass from the scene, their principles and concepts become concretized as dogma, and a new establishment is born whose sacred duty is the protection of the dogma against the new revolutionaries. The last quantum jump was the scientific revolution of the nineteenth century which laid the groundwork for our present technological civilization, and perhaps more important, also shaped our philosophical view of what is a human being. Since the basis of this scientific revolution was reason, logic, measurement, and total reliance upon the organized senses, the resultant view of the person is that of an automaton, functioning in a clockwork world. The power of this view is evident in the advances made in medical science up until the 1950s. The twin triumphs of sanitation and preventive medicine and the develop­ ment of the antibiotic concept completely revolutionized the practice of medicine, and by 1950 those of us in the profession were anticipating a new golden age of medicine. But, in fact, the reality has been disaster. The mechanistic view of humanity has led to more and more technologi­ cal applications of ever increasing complexity and cost and ever de­ creasing efficiency.

Man, Myth & Magic in an encyclopedia of the supernatural. Editor Richard Cavendish introduces this vast area of human speculation which is as full of contrast and color, of darkness and light, as the mind of man himself.