Explaining the Unexplained: Mysteries of the Paranormal [Hardcover]

H. J. Eysenck (Author), Carl Sargent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1984

Over 75 per cent of the population believes in ESP (extra-sensory preception), and a majority in precognition. Reports of apparitions, of telepathy, and other strange phenomena have been rife since antiquity. Science has made such staggering advances in explaining the world around us that paranormal events - those that seem to contradict scientific laws - appear all the more suspect. This book argues that these dismissive attitudes are fundamentally non-scientific. Where evidence for the paranormal exists, scientists have a responsibility to examine and evaluate that evidence. The authors of this book investigate poltergeists, the mystique and the powers of mediums and faith healers, and the effects of sensory deprivation, meditation and hypnosis on paranormal human abilities (psi). They also discuss the most recent findings concerning mind-over-matter experiments, life beyond death and the effects of personality, sex differences and the environment on the way that psi operates.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (January 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297780689
• ISBN-13: 978-0297780687
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,666,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, July 19, 2002

By 

"heyo1" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Explaining the Unexplained: Mysteries of the Paranormal (Paperback)

Good book, but could use a little bit more details, although the book would probably be much thicker. Some of its finer points are a bit vague at times. It reads kind of like a super long research paper or magazine article with readers invited to followup on the finer details near the end. But overall a good overview of paranormal science (at least from a non-American point of view).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scientific confirmation of paranormal powers of the human mind, January 15, 2012

By 

Haran "Haran, Author of "75 Lives of Hara... (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Explaining the Unexplained (Paperback)

Unfortunately, the book cover and the title poorly reflect what the book is all about. It is actually reporting on scientific investigations into a variety of paranormal effects by a leading - although controversial - professor of psychology (first author). These investigations cover several decades of increasingly more sophisticated laboratory research by many researchers and they represent an effort to elevate parapsychology to a science and to get it recognized as such. The book makes a convincing case for the reality of parapsychology even if the actual mechanisms as to how the effects occur are still speculative (In that sense the book does not explain the unexplained). The authors do not shy away from controversial issues, such as life after death and out-of-body-experiences, but they make it clear that in some specific areas evidence is not yet sufficient to draw conclusions, and, the authors caution us not to assume that because paranormal effects are fact that every spontaneous paranormal effect is what it is claimed to be.

The research results are highly significant because they demonstrate that mind power exists and that it can no longer be wiped off the table with some sarcastic remarks because of a supposed lack of scientific evidence. Considering the importance of the issues for us, such as understanding consciousness and life changing and even life saving effects, we aught to applaud progress with regard to the acceptance of the phenomena and the continuing search for explanations. Unfortunately, peer recognition had still not been fully granted at the time of publication (1997).
However, testimony that those efforts were not in vain is presented for instance by the more recent work by Dr Emoto on mind influence on water.

Another part of the book deals with the notorious problem of convincing the scientific establishment about new findings. Although the recounting of the battle with opponents is a bit tedious at times, it reflects the scientific thoroughness of the authors and it lead to some useful general insights. It prompted the authors to cite an intriguing and most revealing experiment about the acceptance or rejection of scientific research findings by magazine publishers. From this it is frighteningly clear that some publishers base their decisions on criteria which have nothing to do with the facts of the matter, but with politics, economic interests, and prejudices. This obviously has implications for today as well.

Although this book was published some time ago it deserves more attention than it appears to have been getting.