Identify Books To Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death
| Original Title: | Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death |
| ISBN: | 1594200904 (ISBN13: 9781594200908) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Deborah Blum
Hardcover | Pages: 371 pages Rating: 3.7 | 962 Users | 141 Reviews
Mention Regarding Books Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death
| Title | : | Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death |
| Author | : | Deborah Blum |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 371 pages |
| Published | : | August 3rd 2006 by Penguin Press |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Science. Fantasy. Paranormal. Ghosts. Psychology. Biography |
Representaion Conducive To Books Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death
What if a world-renowned professor of psychology at Harvard University, a doctor and scientist acclaimed as one of the leading intellects of the time, suddenly announced that he believed in ghosts? At the close of the nineteenth century, to great public and professional astonishment, William James-the great philosopher, a founder of the American Psychological Association and brother of Henry James-did just that and embarked on a determined, lifelong pursuit of scientific evidence to prove it.James came together with two other brilliant and charismatic thinkers of the day-Richard Hodgson, a converted skeptic, and James Hyslop, a natural grandstander who would often visit mediums unannounced, a hooded mask covering his face-to form the core of the American Society for Psychical Research. They eventually merged with the British Society for Psychical Research, adding to the group the Cambridge philosopher Henry Sidgwick and his tiny, ferociously smart wife Eleanor, as well as the mythically handsome Edmund Gurney and others. While studies of ESP and ghostly visitations have occurred since the days of the society, at no other time have scientists of the caliber of James and his colleagues devoted themselves in such an ambitious and driven way for evidence of a life beyond. James and his band of brothers staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity, on one of the most extraordinary (and entertaining) psychological quests ever undertaken, a quest that brought its followers right up against the limits of science.
This riveting book is about the investigation of the ghost stories-the instances of supernatural phenomena that could not be explained away-and it is about the courage and conviction of William James and his colleagues to study science with an open mind. At the heart of the story is the ongoing tension between empiricism and spiritualism-between a way of explaining the world that is grounded in the purely tangible and a way that is grounded in a mixture of the evident and the hidden. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Deborah Blum uses her extraordinary storytelling skills and scientific insight to explore nothing less than the nexus of science and religion. It is a territory as fascinating to us now as it was to William James and his colleagues then.
Rating Regarding Books Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death
Ratings: 3.7 From 962 Users | 141 ReviewsCommentary Regarding Books Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death
Deborah Blum has managed to take fascinating subject matter and turn it into a messy slog of a book. This thing takes serious work to get through. The structure makes it so that you are continually introduced to a rotating cast of characters and frequently jumping between them. I couldn't keep anyone straight after a while so it was hard to stay invested. I was also disappointed that the book did not include any information about research that has been done since this main group over a hundredVery engaging nonfiction
Note: I am not American so I dont know William James or his brother, Henry James, at all.If part of the motivation for this book was to show that a science writer can write sympathetically about spiritualism and psychical research, then tick that off. However, no matter how sympathetic the writing (or maybe because of it?), Im not sure what to make of this book.Is it just a historical account of spiritualism in the 19th to 20th century? Because then I feel like its ending lacks something like
I have to admit this book excited my interests in the studies performed by the Society for Psychical Research (The SPRs former presidents list reads like the Whos Who in Science). One reason may have been my enormous respect for the works of the father of American psychology William James who presided over the SPR from 1894 to 1895. Anyone who read my second book on the meaning of existence will understand the my current dilemma. For the longest time I found support for my existential
Just couldn't get into it.
I tried to finish it. I really did. But it was just so...boring. Really really boring. And the author went for a I am completely objective and thus not inserting myself into this story motif, which just leads to huge eye rolling when there are no comments on what is obvious bunk. I know they couldnt explain how the medium had all that info. But there is zero mention of cold reading techniques, or even that the medium, given long days between readings, could have written letters to others who
I originally started reading this book not knowing it was nonfiction. Maybe that was dumb of me, but I guess the summary was kind of ambiguous and I had never heard of any of the scientists mentioned so I didn't know they were real people. I was expecting a spooky, Victorian ghost story. What I got was good, but it was nonfiction, which (at least for me) requires a lot more concentration and effort to get through, especially when it's really dense with information, like this one. Which is why it
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