James Randi: Psychic Investigator

by James Randi

Telepathy, spoon-bending, spiritualism, fortune-telling, astrology and other apparently supernatural phenomena exert a continuing fascination for both sceptics and believers. James Randi, magician and psychic investigator, sets out to expose the world of the paranormal, exploring the myths of the occult and uncovering a few psychic tricksters in the process. The book is published to tie in with an ITV series in which Randi invites psychics to demonstrate their feats to a studio audience and a panel of experts, not all of whom are sceptics. He also performs sophisticated magic tricks to show his public just how gullible they are. His previous books include "The Mask of Nostradamus" and "The Truth About Uri Geller".

Genres: Nonfiction, Skepticism, Science

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician and a scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), originally known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He also founded the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). He began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively called "woo-woo".Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from the JREF at 87.

Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator". He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, famously exposing fraudulent faith healer Peter Popoff, and was occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - wikipeadia

Reviews

[Dusty Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely based on his TV show. This is the least of Randi's books. Maybe good for those just learning about skepticism, experienced skeptics will find it to be like reading a children's book.

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the tie in to a series broadcast in 1991. I've had it since then and it was just as much a pleasure to read now, as it was then.

It recounts the various psychic claims that were tested during the programme, such as dowsing, graphology, handling objects, astrology, etc. It goes a little behind the scenes of the programme as well as taking in the wider discussion.

This is an essential read for anyone with a rational interest in such things.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a companion to the 1991 Granada TV series "James Randi: Psychic Investigator" (although you don't need to have seen the programme to enjoy the book) and discusses the experiments shown in the programme and any relevant off-screen information (such as participants agreeing to take part and then dropping out at the last minute, participants who stated that they were happy with the procedure before the tests took place but then claimed it had all been biased when they didn't demonstrate the abilities they claimed to have etc.). There's also a lot of general information about paranormal abilities.

James Randi is a pretty high-profile sceptic and, as a result, tends to attract a lot of criticism. I bought this book to find out for myself a little more about him, and I was impressed with his emphasis on unbiased testing in the book. He makes a very valid point that it should be possible to replicate any supernatural abilities under scientific, controlled conditions, and, despite what his critics would have you believe, he seems to take every possible step to ensure that the participants are happy with the design of the experiments (they can request any changes they feel necessary) and believe they can demonstrate their abilities under those conditions. On the only occasion when a participant actually managed to demonstrate his professed abilities, Randi very generously suggests that the participant may indeed have supernatural abilities, despite the participant accidentally having access to key information regarding the experiment.

The book's a tad on the short side, but if you're interested in finding out more about James Randi and his experiments, I would highly recommend this book