Wonder Shows: Performing Science, Magic, and Religion in America

by Fred Nadis

Imagine a stage full of black cats emitting electrical sparks, a man catching bullets with his teeth, or an evangelist jumping on a transformer to shoot bolts of lightning through his fingertips. These and other wild schemes were part of the repertoire of showmen who traveled from city to city, making presentations that blended science with myth and magic.

In Wonder Shows , Fred Nadis offers a colorful history of these traveling magicians, inventors, popular science lecturers, and other presenters of “miracle science” who revealed science and technology to the public in awe-inspiring fashion. The book provides an innovative synthesis of the history of performance with a wider study of culture, science, and religion from the antebellum period to the present.

It features a lively cast of characters, including electrical “wizards” Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison, vaudeville performers such as Harry Houdini, mind readers, UFO cultists, and practitioners of New Age science. All of these performers developed strategies for invoking cultural authority to back their visions of science and progress. The pseudo-science in their wonder shows helped promote a romantic worldview that called into question the absolute authority of scientific materialism while reaffirming the importance of human spirituality. Nadis argues that the sensation that these entertainers provided became an antidote to the alienation and dehumanization that accompanied the rise of modern America.

Although most recent defenders of science are prone to reject wonder, considering it an ally of ignorance and superstition, Wonder Shows demonstrates that the public’s passion for magic and meaning is still very much alive. Today, sales continue to be made and allegiances won based on illusions that products are unique, singular, and at best, miraculous. Nadis establishes that contemporary showmen, corporate publicists, advertisers, and popular science lecturers are not that unlike the magicians and mesmerists of years ago.  

Genres: Nonfiction, History

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 13, 2005

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, albeit surface, look at the sorts of science and magic shows that toured the nation and the world over the last few centuries. While the book is really all over the place in terms of topics and coverage, there's equal time for history's highlights (Tesla, Houdini, etc) as well as the lesser known.

I would have preferred more focus and more depth, overall. The book simply doesn't spend enough time on any specific area to give a lot of informational value, as opposed to many other books with similar subjects or styles. Much like with his recent book on Ray Palmer, Nadis also has a tendency to take many of the subjects at face value to the detriment of the overall narrative.

Not a bad read, just one that never reaches the heights or standards you might expect. More in depth treatment of the subjects might be what you're actually looking for.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd written this book!!