From the publisher: Skeptics of the supernatural will enjoy this humorous jaunt through the long history of scientific inquiry into paranormal and psychic phenomena. Life after death, spirit communication, the astral plane, reincarnation: on the relatively rare occasions when scientists have tried to apply their methods to the paranormal, they've often ended up embarrassed – fooled by obvious charlatans, deluded into making irrational and unsubstantiated claims, or frustrated in their attempt to find something that just isn’t there. John Grant – author of Discarded Science and Corrupted Science – investigates the pseudoscience of spooky stuff to fascinating and often hilarious effect.
John Grant is the author of some 70 books and recipient of two Hugo Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and a number of other international literary awards. He co-edited with John Clute The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (Orbit/St Martin’s) and wrote in their entirety all three editions ofThe Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters (Hyperion); both encyclopedias are standard reference works in their field. His A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir: The Definitive Reference Guide, published by Limelight in Fall 2013, has the distinction of being the largest film noir encyclopaedia ever written. Among his other recently published nonfiction books are the highly successful Discarded Science, Corrupted Science, and Bogus Science (all AAPPL/Sterling). He lives in New Jersey, USA.
[NB The supplied cover illustration has an incorrect subtitle – the published book cover substitutes ‘Debunking the Pseudoscience of the Afterlife’ for ‘Confronting the Pseudoscience of the Supernatural’.]