Review of "Science Confronts the Paranormal"

Science Confronts the Paranormal

edited by Kendrick Frasier

This book is the second collection of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, the journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). It contains articles that were originally published between 1981 and 1986. These articles range over a wide variety of topics, and anyone who is interested in the occult/paranormal should be able to find something of interest. In particular (in my opinion), James Randi's article on "Project Alpha" where two magicians were able to convince scientists that they possessed true psychic powers is great reading. There are several other articles about how to test (and not test) psychics to see if their "powers" are genuine. Until such time as the testing is conducted in a reliable manner, using strict, scientific controls, all the studies being done will be unable to prove the existence of any supernatural abilities.

It also includes a couple of good articles dealing with the "evidence" used by young earth creationists to show that the earth is young, that humans and dinosaurs lived together, and that evolutionary biology is false. Being a biologist, I found these articles to be particularly worthwhile reading.

This book is an important addition to the skeptic's bookshelf, and it would be worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the occult (as long as they're willing to read with an open mind)!

Below is a listing of all the articles in this book to give you an indication of the types of topics this book covers.

Abell, G.O. (1986). The alleged lunar effect. pp. 228-234

Alcock, J.E. (1986). Parapsychology's past eight years: a lack-of-progress report. pp. 20-27

Asimov, I. (1986). Science and the mountain peak. pp. 295-304

Connor, J.W. (1986). Misperception, folk belief, and the occult: a cognitive guide to understanding. pp. 65-74

Falk, R. (1986). On coincidences. pp. 43-56

Feder, K.L. (1986). American disingenuous: Goodman's "American Genesis" - a new chapter in cult archaeology. pp. 274-284

Frazier, K. (1986). Introduction. pp. ix-xiv

Frazier, K. and Randi, J. (1986). Prediction after the fact: lessons of the Tamara Rand hoax. pp. 211-214

Gardner, M. (1986a). How not to test a psychic: the great SRI die mystery. pp. 176-181

Gardner, M. (1986b). Lessons of a landmark PK hoax. pp. 166-169

Gardner, M. (1986c). Magicians in the psi-lab: many misconceptions. pp. 170-175

Gardner, M. (1986d). The great stone face and other nonmysteries. pp. 75-78

Hilgard, E.R. (1986). Hypnosis gives rise to fantasy and is not a truth serum. pp. 263

Hoebens, P.H. (1986a). Gerard Croiset and professor Tenhaeff: discrepancies in claims of clairvoyance. pp. 133-141

Hoebens, P.H. (1986b). Gerard Croiset: investigation of the Mozart of "psychic sleuths". pp. 122-132

Hoebens, P.H. (1986c). Sense and nonsense in parapsychology. pp. 28-39

Hoffmaster, S. (1986). Sir Oliver Lodge and the spiritualists. pp. 79-87

Hyman, R. (1986). Outracing the evidence: the muddled "mind race". pp. 91-109

Kelly, I.W. and Saklofske, D.H. (1986). Alternative explanations in science: the extroversion-introversion astrology effect. pp. 222-227

Klass, P.J. (1986a). Hypnosis and UFO abductions. pp. 255-262

Klass, P.J. (1986b). The claim of a government UFO coverup. pp. 245-250

Kurtz, P. (1986). Debunking, neutrality, and skepticism in science. pp. 5-12

Kurtz, P. and Fraknoi, A. (1986). Scientific tests of astrology do not support its claims. pp. 219-221

Marks, D.F. (1986). Remote viewing revisited. pp. 110-121

Martin, B. (1986). An eye-opening double encounter. pp. 251-254

McCrone, W. (1986). The shroud image is the work of an artist. pp. 344-345

McKusick, M. (1986). Deciphering ancient America. pp. 267-273

Mueller, M. (1986). The SHroud of Turin: a critical appraisal. pp. 324-343

Nickell, J. (1986). The Nazca drawings revisited: creation of a full-sized duplicate. pp. 285-292

Park, M.A. (1986). Palmistry: science or hand-jive? pp. 198-208

Randi, J. (1986a). The Columbus poltergeist case. pp. 145-157

Randi, J. (1986b). The project alpha experiment. pp. 158-165

Razdan, R. and Kielar, A. (1986). Sonar and photographic searches for the Loch Ness Monster: a reassessment. pp. 349-358

Sanduleak, N. (1986). The moon is acquitted of murder in Cleveland. pp. 235-241

Schadewald, R. (1986). Creationist pseudoscience. pp. 305-318

Schafersman, S. (1986). Paluxy footprints. pp. 319-323

Singer, B. and Benassi, V.A. (1986). Fooling some of the people all of the time. pp. 57-64

Toulmin, S. (1986). The new philosophy of science and the 'paranormal'. pp. 13-19

Worrall, R.S. (1986). Iridology: diagnosis or delusion? pp. 185-197