Exposed!: Ouija, Firewalking, and Other Gibberish

by Henri Broch, Georges Charpak (Foreword), Bart K. Holland (Translator)

From horoscopes to telekinesis to the Shroud of Turin, much of what is popularly accepted as a mystical or paranormal phenomenon is, in fact, bunk. Henri Broch’s charged deconstruction of these and other acts reveals the hucksterism of pseudoscience. Broch provides a scientific explanation for what many accept as supernatural or psychic. He explains how some tricks, such as bending silverware with the mind, actually work. He details plausible, scientifically grounded alternative explanations for others, such as dowsing, which is the practice of finding by nonscientific means hidden veins of water, gems, metals, and other materials under the earth. Broch's hands-on experiments demystify the mysterious and explain the inexplicable. Featuring a foreword by Nobel laureate Georges Charpak and translated from French by Bart K. Holland, this persuasively argued and firmly scientific book exposes some of history's most persistent bamboozling. Be forewarned, you may never be taken in again!

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2009

Reviews

[Simon Cleveland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointed not only in the content of the book, but also the structure of it. Scientific works written by US authors tend to be more exploratory, consisting of good theory and solid example, something this book thoroughly lacked. When you take a 120+ pages book, subtract all the images and un-bold the titles, all you truly are left with is 70 pages of text that were poorly used by Henry Broch. Frequently I was lost in translation, desperately trying to understand what the author was attempting to describe. The narrative skipped from one subject to another without proper transition. The author often engaged in personal rather than scientific interpretations of the phenomena. After a while this inconsistency became quite tedious.

I would have liked to see more comprehensive and different arguments on what may cause psychic powers, dowsing, and clairvoyance. It also would have been very useful to see various double-blinded studies of each condition so that readers are not left with the possibility to wonder whether something else may be the cause and not necessarily what the author believe it to be.

Also, a good book on scientific theory would have explored other works in similar matter that can present a thorough view of all possible theories. This helps readers increase their learning on a broader scale, as it tasks us with the need to form more associations, form more questions.

Not a good book. As an alternative, I'd recommend "Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death" by Deborah Blum. It's sure to arouse suspicion toward Broch's theories.

[Megan Humphries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very easy to follow, doesn't give solid explanations and darts around from topic to topic.