Psychic phenomena, recorded throughout human history, remained a mystery or a matter of faith rather than a subject of serious study until scientists began to investigate them roughly a century and a half ago. Systematic experimentation began with the work of J.B. Rhine at Duke University, resulting in the publication of Extra-Sensory Perception (1934) followed by Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years (1940). Rhine and researchers who came after him struggled to present sufficient evidence to gain scientific credibility for the existence of extrasensory abilities. Yet despite tight experimental controls and numerous significant results the subject remains controversial. Parapsychologists argue that the impasse is not due to a lack of evidence but to the challenge their claims pose to the worldview of science in general. This comprehensive overview of the discipline of parapsychology, written by one of its most notable investigators, offers the reader a full understanding of both its concepts, theories and methods, and its controversies, problems and prospects.

This volume is intended to constitute the definitive work on parapsychology. It is designed so that it can be used profitably as a reference work for the experienced psi researcher and as a textbook for the student of parapsychology. Initial chapters introduce the reader to the field of psi and outline the development of the paranormal from its prehistoric origins to the most recent experiments. Techniques for measuring psi are then delineated. Detailed statistical methods are thoroughly described and illustrated. Hypotheses purportedly offering alternative explanations for paranormal phenomena receive detailed scrutiny and the author explains why they are not valid. Other discussions center on the description and analysis of laboratory and spontaneous manifestations of the paranormal in humans, animals and plants. Questionable extrasensory and psychokinetic phenomena are examined in two chapters. Information is also included on modalities of psi; the target, subject, agent and experimenter in psi experiments; and characteristics of psi. The final chapter provides thorough analyses of all of the many theories employed to explain paranormal phenomena. Résumé de l'éd.