The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Poision Squad and The Poisoner's Handbook tells the amazing story of William James's quest for empirical evidence of the spirit world
What if a world-renowned philosopher and professor of psychiatry at Harvard suddenly announced he believed in ghosts? At the close of the nineteenth century, the illustrious William James led a determined scientific investigation into "unexplainable" incidences of clairvoyance and ghostly visitations. James and a small group of eminent scientists staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary quests ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts, spirits, and psychic phenomena. What they pursued—and what they found—raises questions as fascinating today as they were then.
Ghost HuntersPrelude 1. The Night Side 2. A Spirit of Unbelief 3. Lights and Shadows 4. Metaphysics and Metatrousers 5. Infinite Rationality 6. All Ye Who Enter Here 7. The Principles of Psychology 8. The Invention of Ectoplasm 9. The Unearthly Archive 10. A Prophecy of Death 11. A Force Not Generally Recognized 12. A Ghost Story
Deborah Blum is director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT, and publisher of Undark magazine, (undark.org). In 1992, she won the Pulitzer Prize for a series on primate research, which she turned into a book, The Monkey Wars. Her other books include The Poisoner's Handbook, Ghost Hunters, Love at Goon Park, and Sex on the Brain. She has written for publications including The New York Times, Wired, Time, Discover, Mother Jones, The Guardian and The Boston Globe. Blum is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a lifetime associate of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Poision Squad and The Poisoner's Handbook tells the amazing story of William James's quest for empirical evidence of the spirit world
What if a world-renowned philosopher and professor of psychiatry at Harvard suddenly announced he believed in ghosts? At the close of the nineteenth century, the illustrious William James led a determined scientific investigation into "unexplainable" incidences of clairvoyance and ghostly visitations. James and a small group of eminent scientists staked their reputations, their careers, even their sanity on one of the most extraordinary quests ever undertaken: to empirically prove the existence of ghosts, spirits, and psychic phenomena. What they pursued—and what they found—raises questions as fascinating today as they were then.
Table of Contents
Ghost HuntersPrelude 1. The Night Side 2. A Spirit of Unbelief 3. Lights and Shadows 4. Metaphysics and Metatrousers 5. Infinite Rationality 6. All Ye Who Enter Here 7. The Principles of Psychology 8. The Invention of Ectoplasm 9. The Unearthly Archive 10. A Prophecy of Death 11. A Force Not Generally Recognized 12. A Ghost Story
Deborah Blum is director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT, and publisher of Undark magazine, (undark.org). In 1992, she won the Pulitzer Prize for a series on primate research, which she turned into a book, The Monkey Wars. Her other books include The Poisoner's Handbook, Ghost Hunters, Love at Goon Park, and Sex on the Brain. She has written for publications including The New York Times, Wired, Time, Discover, Mother Jones, The Guardian and The Boston Globe. Blum is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a lifetime associate of the National Academy of Sciences.
