The Scientist and the Psychic: A Son's Exploration of His Mother's Gift

by Christian Smith

A captivating, one-of-a-kind memoir about a scientist's life with his famous psychic mother and his revealing exploration of the paranormal realm.

Christian Smith realized his mother was different in the autumn of 1977 when he was eight years old. Before then, he'd witnessed seances at home and the kids at school sometimes teased him about his mom being a witch--so he sensed that his life wasn't typical. But it wasn't until he was backstage at Massey Hall in Toronto, watching from behind a curtain as Geraldine commanded an audience of 2,000 with her extrasensory readings, that he understood she was special. As Geraldine's only child, in subsequent years he would assume the role of the quiet observer while she guided a live CBC broadcast of a seance; made startling and consistently accurate predictions; and eventually offered her services to the parents of murder victims in LA. Over time, the high profile and emotionally depleting work affected Geraldine's health and relationships--addiction took over her life, and her son pulled away.

Fast forward to the present day: Christian is a molecular biologist at a hospital in Toronto, and Geraldine is retired and in poor health. They are closer than they've ever been, and now he gives us the story of her undeniable perceptual abilities and pioneering work as a psychic--and endeavours to make scientific sense of it. Weaving together the strands of a complicated mother-son relationship with research into the paranormal, The Scientist and the Psychic is a fascinating, one-of-a-kind true story of belief, skepticism and familial love.

Genres: Memoir, Science, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Audiobook, Biography, Spirituality

320 pages, Paperback

Published December 29, 2020

Reviews

[Emily Saso · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! A son digs into his mother’s career as a famous psychic, hunts down scientific investigations into ESP, and reflects on her impact on his life. Auras, true crime, addiction, forgiveness. I didn't want it to end! I loved reading about Geraldine's experiences handling murder cases in the US, and the seance she did with William Lyon Mackenzie King. What an incredible story! I can't believe I'd never heard of her before. It was a privilege to read about what Smith uncovered about his mother, her mind, and ESP in general. The brain is amazing, and so is this book.

[David Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unexpected story. Canada's most famous psychic has a son who becomes a scientist. There were fractures in their relationship over the years but Christian Smith finally applies a skeptical scientist's eye to his mother's indisputable gift. It is only successful because Smith has a deep love for his mother and the willingness to dig deep into himself as well as his mother. The book will surely engage both skeptics, like myself, and believers because of the honesty of Smith's journey.

[Laura Stradiotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing, poignant and informative read. Fast paced, well crafted and a perfect mix of scientific inquiry and memoir writing. It doesn't matter if you are a skeptic or believer of psychic abilities because this is really a story about a mother and son, the ties that bind, potentially separating us, but ultimately enabling us to forgive and move forward.

[Anne Fenn]

What an extraordinary book! This book seriously exceeded my expectations. Even the non-psychic stuff is fascinating. Christian Smith's gifted mother was about as famous as a female psychic could get in the 1970s (you can even listen to the CBC recording of her channelling former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King in the CBC archives!) Part memoir, part scientific inquiry, Christian the research scientist goes back to explore her literally incredible work, as well their troubled relationship as mother and son.
If you found Patricia Pearson's "Opening Heaven's Door" interesting, you'll also enjoy this. I devoured it and will not be sharing. Back off and get your own copy! (Hopefully from a small/local bookstore.)

[Peggy Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I eagerly anticipated reading this book by someone who had recently completed the program I'm currently enrolled in (Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction), and it did not disappoint. The topic is fascinating, and a complex life is well handled by the author, the son of well-known Canadian psychic, Geraldine Stringer. Telling his mother's story and trying to make scientific sense of it, Smith delivers an honest portrait of a woman who is anything but a typical mother. If you are remotely interested in ESP or the paranormal, or just wonder what it would be like to have a Mum who the kids at school refer to as a witch, this book is for you! Well written and compelling, I couldn't put it down.

[Bookewyfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The author was genuinely interested in the gifts his mother had. He was always healthily skeptical, but never a jerk about it. This is a memoir of that journey, and their relationship. In the end, he felt there was something to it that couldn’t necessarily be explained, but wants the reader to form their own opinion.

As a Medium myself, I’ve had too many experiences that I can’t explain, but it isn’t my goal to try to convince anyone of anything. All I know is what I have seen; I’m just the bridge between here and whatever ‘there’ is. 👻🤷🏼‍♀️ 👻

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Thank you Libro.fm for the ALC even though it took me awhile to get to 😊. I really enjoyed the book itself as well as the concept in general. I am a literal thinker, a skeptic, a romantic, and a believer in the power to tap into the unknown, so I like how the author mixed science and psychic abilities. It was neat to read something so different.

[Robyn Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to come back and write a proper review at some point. My jaw is still on the floor. LOVED this book.

[Jyoti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit, curiosity for the psychic and communication to the unknown drew me in but I was glued to the author's own desires to understand his mother, her abilities and the turbulent relationship between them. I thought this book was a great read as it gave an open minded pragmatic exploration into the world of the author's mother with her ESP gift and all the paths it brought her to. Starting with us understanding the difference between reading cold cues people give in body language and fishing comments and the actual abilities of ESP and their limitations. The author does a great job into making us a believer to making us see how human his mother is. We follow the rollercoaster of Geraldine trying to help others to the dark blackhole her exploration took her to that led to the choices she made to distant herself from her family, especially her son. This book was interesting, appealing and remind you that empathy is really key because although someone can have the answers to the unsolvable questions, no one has all the answers to life and relationships.

[Amber Daugherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book took a lot of guts to write. Firmly based in the medical/scientific world, Smith - a physician working at one of Canada's most respected hospitals - decided to turn his research methods and mind to explore the impact his mother - one of Canada's most well-known psychics - had on her clients and communities. Openly acknowledging throughout the book that he's quite skeptical, Smith is open-minded when reviewing tapes, videos and having conversations with people who were genuinely appreciative of his mother's guidance. It becomes harder and harder for him to write off what she did - going into trance-like meditations where people claimed spirits either spoke through her or took control of her hand in a process known as automatic writing, reading auras, coming up with incredibly accurate descriptions of people and their circumstances through holding an object of theirs (often when they weren't in the room and she had never met or seen them). It's a fascinating story of a childhood dominated by a connection to another world, watching a mother become 'famous,' and having a front row seat to some incredible predictions and happenings and also relationships changes, breakdowns, addictions and abuse.

I read this book in a day because it was too good to put down - would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting true story about a man and his mom.

[Jo Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Scientist and the Psychic" was not what I expected. I think I was expecting a more personal memoir, but the research Christian Smith did to examine the validity of psychic phenomena in his quest to "explore" his mother's gift is an important part of this book.
I really enjoyed it. It's not my style to think too much about the paranormal, because for me, that's just not a healthy path; reading the end of the book first is okay for novels (yup--I do that!) but in my little personal life, it's best for me to straighten my shoulders and accept that I'm on linear time and I don't know what's going to happen. Instead of seeking psychic insight, it's best if I look at those flashes of The Unexpected and Unexplained as flashes of colour in a scarf dance.
I think that's why I enjoyed this book so much. Voyeurism. I got to snatch a little glimpse into two communities that I don't want to live in: the community of Psychics & Believers, and the community of researchers who are looking for an explanation.
I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

[Enid Wray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting hybrid type memoir… equally as much about the mother-son relationship as it is an exploration of science - particularly neuroscience - the scientific method - observation and recording - and the line between science and faith - skepticism.

Despite being a politically aware Canadian woman of a certain vintage - and also a lover of mysteries and true crime anything - I had never heard of Geraldine prior to this (or, if I had had any awareness when I was younger, I have completely forgotten) and was captivated by the exploration and examination of her ‘powers’ but I did find the book could have used a little bit more editing to tighten it up some… I found it awfully long and my interest waxed and waned.

3.5

[MLD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this audiobook. I did have to fast forward a bit through the disturbing section on crimes committed by the pedophiles. Overall 4.5 stars. Very interesting perspective from the son’s point of view. Was confused how his mother’s partner Michael was able to be forgiven by the author for his abuse (psychological and physical) to the author. Also his forgiveness of his mom supporting this kind of behavior. The mind is an incredible thing to allow a person to file this away in order to survive.

[Susie Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another reviewer stated that her interest waxed and waned. That was also my experience, which was not unexpected because I don't enjoy reading the details of scientific studies. I did enjoy the anecdotal parts but found the book to be somewhat disjointed or aimless. While some stories lacked what would seem to be important details, others took up space with comments like "I ordered a diet coke", as if the author couldn't be sure which details were important.

[Shaelee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, but I did feel like I was reading a scientific paper interspersed with clips of the past. I suspect I'd prefer a longer narrative in the past than returning back to the present so frequently.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Darren Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book exceeded my expectations. It was a page turner that I could not put it down. Fascinating read combining the scientific and the paranormal. A beautiful memoir. A definite must read

[Pat Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read! Thank you, it explains so much.

[Michael Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is framed from the point of view of a scientist--with a medium for a mother--who decides to apply his factual approach to his mother's claims and experiences. But this is much more than an analytic study of how accurate her readings were. The meat and potatoes of this book is the memoir of a child growing up in a pretty unusual family circumstance. Parts of it are infuriating, others are rather astonishing, but all of it is engaging. If you like memoirs, you'll eat this title up.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! I’m a skeptic turned psychic myself and I am always looking to science to explain what I otherwise cannot. Brilliant balance of both science and psychic phenomena woven into a rich story of a son and his mother. It was grounded, factual, and a page-turning read all in one. Highly recommend!

[Neva · Rating 5 out of 5]

So appealing to the research side of me as well as to my beloved intuition focus. As a side note I recall the summer of 1980 and the events that Geraldine was connected to. We may have literally crossed paths in Long Beach and Huntington Beach in those days. Super interesting!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m this book, the “scientist” son explores the development of his “psychic” mom’s extended sensory perception - his mother’s preferred phrase for. ESP.

His research is interwoven with the story of their troubled relationship.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea. I didn’t read the whole book. It just didn’t hold any interest for me.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who's currently in pursuit of becoming a research scientist, I really enjoyed reading about Dr. Christian Smith's perspective of the paranormal realm from a scientific point of view and greatly appreciate the research he put into examining the phenomena of psychic ability. Not only that, Dr. Smith's story of growing up with a psychic as a mother and the life that she led was thoroughly captivating. 10/10 would recommend!