Parapsychology researcher Professor Stephen E. Braude has a new book coming out in a few weeks time, and it looks well worth a look. The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations (preorder from Amazon US and UK) is an account of his most memorable encounters and research with alleged paranormal phenomena:
Braude begins with a south Florida woman who can make thin gold-colored foil appear spontaneously on her skin. He then travels to New York and California to test psychokinetic superstars—and frauds—like Joe Nuzum, who claim to move objects using only their minds. Along the way, Braude also investigates the startling allegations of K.R., a policeman in Annapolis who believes he can transfer images from photographs onto other objects—including his own body—and Ted Serios, a deceased Chicago elevator operator who could make a variety of different images appear on Polaroid film. Ultimately, Braude considers his wife’s surprisingly fruitful experiments with astrology, which she has used to guide professional soccer teams to the top of their leagues, as well as his own personal experiences with synchronicity—a phenomenon, he argues, that may need to be explained in terms of a refined, extensive, and dramatic form of psychokinesis.
The University of Chicago Press website also has a long excerpt from the book that is well worth checking out. Despite the book not even being released yet, the excerpt has prompted one skeptical blogger to get hot under collar, questioning why the University of Chicago Press would publish “this nonsense“. Note that Michael Prescott – as always – has written an excellent analysis of this so-called ‘skeptical review’, most notably pointing out the errors of omission (a common ploy of ‘media skeptics’) which certainly make a difference to the understanding of Braude’s book and research.
