I’ve mentioned the book Ghost Hunters (Amazon US and UK) a number of times here on TDG – not least because the author, Deborah Blum, seems to have one heck of a publicist, but also because I think it covers an extremely important period of scientific research. Blum’s book looks into the involvement of the ‘father of psychology’, William James, in psychical research, and discusses fascinating topics such as the mediumship of Leonora Piper and the validity of the ‘survival’ hypothesis. You can find an excellent summary of the book, and interview with Blum, in this recent article: “In Search of White Crows“. It’s interesting to see the evolution of Blum’s thinking over the course of writing the book…which to some extent mirrors that of Richard Hodgson in the course of his investigations.