Ghost Hunters

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. Free Read Ghost Hunters By Deborah Blum For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I have to admit this book excited my interests in the studies performed by the Society for Psychical Research The SPR s former presidents list reads like the Who s 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 m...I wasn t quite sure what to expect from this book When I was studying philosophy I first met James the brother of the author and father of psychology in the US I wasn t all that keen on him, but was a bit addicted to Hegel at the time and so found the fact that he had clearly read and understood Hegel something of a treat Nonetheless, his and Dewey s pragmatism or Instrumentalism was a bit too simple for...Interesting subject Slow and difficult read.I ll be honest, I minterested in William James than I am in hispopular brother, Henry, because Henry wrote really snooze worthy books and I have it in my mind that he wasn t all that nice to my BFF, Edith Wharton I haven t read all that much of James s philosophy psychology but I have some of his stuff , but the concept of him has always fascinated me, probably because Henry gets all the attention And then sister Alice gets no love whatsoever my heart has always gone out to her I ll be honest, I minterested in William James than I am in hispopular brother, Henry, because Henry wrote really snooze worthy books and I have it in my mind that he wasn t all that nice to my BFF, Edith Wharton I haven t read all that much of James s philosophy psychology but I have some of his stuff , but the concept of him has always fascinated me, probably because Henry gets all the attention And then sister Alice gets no love whatsoever my heart has always gone out to her, po...Finally found time to read this intriguing book.This is an first rate account by Deborah Blum of the emergence of a growing curiosity and serious research project regarding the existence of life after death, the possibility of communication with spirits, as well as the existence of mental telepathy The parties involved were a group of well respected scientists and psychologists in the US, as well as the UK, in the late nineteenth century who formed the Physical Research Society It is hard to Finally found time to read this intriguing book.This is an first rate account by Deborah Blum of the emergence of a growing curiosity and serious research project regarding the existence of life after death, the possibility of communication with spirits, as well as the existence of mental telepathy The parties involved were a group of well respected scientists and psychologists in the US, as well as the UK, in the late nineteenth century who formed the Physical Research Society It is hard to arugue with the re...Of course I love historyand this book was so interesting to me William James is the brother of Henry James William started a society that was going to prove life after death This was in the late 1800 s It was so interesting to hear of all the famous people of that time who were part of this group They basically debunked all of the spiritualist s of that time I really enjoyed it After reading it, I read Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson, and at the time, didn t know until I read it, that Of course I love historyand this book was so interesting to me William James is the brother of Henry James William started a society that was going to prove life after death This was in the late...I love the Victorian period It was a time of great invention and creativity I ve always loved stories about the paranormal so I was sold on this book when I read the blurb If you re interested in spirits and mediums this is a must read Well written and researched Blum looks at the history of the Society of Psychical Research and its key membership Through their personal stories and obsessions there are many questions raised.Blum is an author who knows her subject matter and has delved deep I love the Victorian period It was a time of great invention and creativity I ve always loved stories about the paranormal so I was sold on this book when I read the blurb If you re interested in spirits and mediums this is a must read Well written and researched Blum looks at the history of the Society of Psychical Research and its key membership Through their personal stories and obsessions there are many questions raised.Blum is an author who knows her subject matter and has delved deep into the Victorian period Scientists interested in proving the ...Ok, it took me forever to read this book because it was so chocked full of information I recommend this to anyone who wants to think deeply Alot of head nodding head scratching went on whilst reading Paranormal concepts I got, but famous people what they did triggered faint memories of science class tests I m in awe of the dedication of these super smart people of the I think Gilded Age who managed to endorse, fund, study several causes or ideas simultaneously If y Ok, it took me forever to read this book because it was so chocked full of information I recommend this to anyone who wants to think deeply Alot of head nodding head scratching went on whilst reading Paranormal concepts I got, but famous people what they did triggered faint memories of science class tests I m in awe of the dedication of these super smart people of the I think Gilded Age who managed to endorse, fund, study several causes or ideas simultaneously If you look at my read list you will find mostly romances mysteries Many of the authors I read include paranormal elements, or the woo woo factor if you will, since that is the current fashion William James his colleagues would be appalled at how all their painstaking, reputation breaking work has become fodder for the mass market entertainment around the world.This book explains so much about the very real war between religious thought, scientific process, and those of us who in the famous words of Ro...The Victorian era was probably the high point of belief in spiritualism who doesn t picture all those fine gentleman and corseted ladies participating in seances, dabbling with Ouija boards, tilting tables and automatic writing It s probably no coincidence that this peak in belief coincided with the rise of science as we understand it perhaps this emerging insistence that the universe could be codified and classified and explained also gave rise to some kind of reaction against it, this bel The Victorian era was probably the high point of belief in spiritualism who doesn t picture all those fine gentleman and corseted ladies participating in seances, dabbling with Ouija boards, tilting tables and automatic writing It s probably no coincidence that this peak in belief coincided with the rise of science as we understand it perhaps this emergin...I had high hopes for this book but when it takes methan a week of reading to get 100 pages into it, the author has not done their job or engaging me as a reader The story of William James really should have been the story of the British start of the Psycical Research Society since a majority of Blum s story took place there She combined the significant physical, scientific, and research based science progress in with the search for the paranormal Combine all that backlog of historical s I had high hopes for this book but when it takes methan a week of reading to get 100 pages into it, the author has not done their job or engaging me as a reader The story of William James really should have been the story of the British start of the Psycical Research Society since a majority of Blum s story took place there She combined the significant physical, scientific, and researc...

• English
• 08 September 2018
Deborah Blum
• Hardcover
• 371 pages
• 1594200904
• Deborah Blum
• Ghost Hunters