On the Wild Side: The Big Bang, the Beast 666, Levitation, Rainmaking, Trance-Channeling, Seances and Ghosts and More...

"I have always been intrigued by fringe science," writes Martin Gardner in the preface to this book, "perhaps for the same reason that I enjoy freak shows and circuses. Pseudoscientists, especially the extreme cranks, are fascinating creatures for psychological study. Moreover, I have found that one of the best ways to learn something about any branch of science is to find out where its crackpots go wrong." A unique combination of horse sense and drollery has made Martin Gardner the undisputed dean of the critics of pseudoscience. This bountiful collection of essays and articles will be wholeheartedly greeted by Gardner's fans, as well as by new readers. This collection of articles - many of which first appeared in the Skeptical Inquirer , the New York Review of Books , and Free Inquiry - explores pseudoscience and strange religious beliefs with the author's trademark wit and verve. Destined to be a classic of skeptical literature, this book covers a wide range of topics - including UFOs, rainmaking, ghosts, the Big Bang, ESP, Oral Roberts, as well as the early history of spiritualism and today's bizarre "trance channeling" cults. A Collection Of Articles And Essays Deals With Such Topics As Ufos, Rainmaking, Ghosts, The Big Bang, Esp, And Channeling. Preface (p.7) -- Skeptical Inquirer Columns. The Obiligation To Disclose Fraud (p.11) -- Occam's Razor And The Nutshell Earth (p.16) -- Wilhelm Reich, Rainmaker (p.23) -- Water With A Memory? (p.30) -- Gaiaism (p.41) -- Robert Gentry's Tiny Mystery (p.49) -- Ira Einhorn: The Unicorn At Large (p.56) -- The Great Urantia Book Mystery (p.63) -- St. George Mivart And The Dragon Of Creationism (p.72) -- Relativism In Science (p.77) -- The Old Finger-lift Levitation (p.87) -- Frank Tipler's Omega Point (p.95) -- Urantia, The Titanic, And A Ppo, Part 1 (p.102) -- Urantia, The Titanic, And A Ppo, Part 2 (p.107) -- Cal Thomas On The Big Bang And Forrest Mims (p.111) -- The Sad Story Of Professor Haldane (p.118). Cont.): Reviews. The Last Temptation Of Christ (p.127) -- Pseudoscience In The Nineteenth Century (p.130) -- Astrology And The Reagans, I (p.140) -- Astrology And The Reagans, Ii (p.148) -- Hans Moravec's Mind Children (p.143) -- Colin Wilson Invades An Oxford Companion (p.155) -- Linus Pauling And Vitamin C (p.159) -- John Beloff Seeks The Holy Grail (p.162) -- Speaking In Tongues (p.173) -- Is Realism A Dirty Word? (p.182) -- Recent Blunders Of Oral Roberts (p.188) -- Fatherly Advice To Tammy Faye Bakker (p.192) -- Aleister Crowley, The Beast 666 (p.196) -- How To Test Your Pk (p.203) -- The Smith-blackburn Esp Hoax (p.208) -- William James And Mrs. Piper (p.217) -- Index (p.249). By Martin Gardner. Includes Bibliographical References.