Customer Reviews

Stranger Than Science

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I read reviews of what an interesting, breezily-written little book this is, I have to shake my head a little bit and chuckle to myself. Such an evaluation falls somewhat short with this particular book. While Charles Fort produced several volumes of "unusualness" before this, and while a few spiritualist-based books by authors like R. DeWitt Miller, Nandor Fodor, and others were "out there" to be found, these books were not at all very "high profile" on the general reader's "radar" at the end of the 50s, beginning of the 60s. Sci-Fi and horror novels were, and westerns, and "hard-boiled" private eye and superlawyer stuff (Mike Hammer & Perry Mason), but...."(Alledgedly) True Weird"?...unh unh. Barely a blip on the "scope".

And then came "Stranger Than Science". It's appearance in hardback made only a modest ripple of waves, but when it came out in paperback from Ace Books (and the cover photo shown above IS the original paperback edition cover) the effect was like Boulder Dam breaking. Copies almost "flew" off the bookracks. Why? Because KIDS discovered it and found it in an a format that they could AFFORD (It could be squeezed in between Sergeant Rock, Batman, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four, Tom Swift, Jr., the Hardy Boys, and everything else "currently cool").

The timing was right on the money, too. The post-war baby boomers were hitting 12, 13, 14 years of age at the time and their interests were focussed on "neat stuff" (as Beaver Cleaver might tell you); UFOs, monster movies, Ray Harryhausen stop-motion flicks, "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine ,"Zacherly" and numerous otherlate-night "Shock Theatre' hosts, and any and all things that made you shivver and shake. Readers Digest was putting out stories about "The Mysterious Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" and "The Elusive Loch Ness Monster", and youngsters were lapping the stuff up. So "Stranger Than Science" hits the mass market paperback shelves at just the right time and with just the right material to grab the attention of a perfect ready-made readership that almost squealed with glee at its appearance.

Edward's book became a huge hit and a BIG bestseller for Ace (who knew a good thing when they had one and who started cranking out more and more "strange but true" books as fast as they could set type on them...and other publishers hopped on the bandwagon right behind them).

Following this trail in the early sixties and on into the seventies came a slew of new author names that blazed through the media: John Keel, Brad Steiger, Ivan Sanderson, Warren Smith, Gray Baker,Erich von Daniken, Otto Binder, Andrew Tomas, and a host of others. And there were kids then that this book "turned on" to strange happenings who made the study of such things lifelong avocations (the Coleman Brothers, Loren and Jerry, spring to mind as such). Most of the gray-haired cryptozoologists and paranormalists of today got fired up for these things originally because of this book. And plenty of wet-behind-the-ears "new generation" aficionadoes of the weird and unexplained owe their own interest base to this man and this book...though they are largely (and typically) clueless about it.

This reviewer here was one of those that came on the "ground floor" of all this true-weirdness stuff. I was thirteen years old at the time and a voracious reader (though mostly of comic books and such fare as "Tom Swift And His Ultrasonic Cycloplane"). I noticed this little softcover on the book rack at the neighborhood drugstore and bought it to take home and read.

And read it I did. Cover to cover. In one Saturday afternoon out on our house's screened-in porch. And I did it mostly open-mouthed, slack-jawed, and half bug-eyed. For instance, one thing I read about was a place Frank Edwards called "The Point of No Return"...located off the southeast coast of the U.S., particularly in the area of the Bahamas...where ships and planes had disappeared without trace for years...and where an entire flight of Navy Avenger torpedo bombers vanished completely in 1945, along with a PBY Flying Boat sent out to search for them (it would be several YEARS yet before Vincent Gaddis would give this place a name..."The Bermuda Triangle"...and OVER A DECADE AND A HALF before Charles Berlitz and others would give it the kind of international notoriety it eventually achieved). A couple of newspaper articles had mentioned these disappearances before, and a write-up in Fate magazine, but...to my knowledge..."Stranger Than Science" was the first BOOK ever to delve into the subject (Yes, it pre-dates "Invisible Horizons").

Other chapters hit on the Tunguska event in Siberia (first I'd ever heard of it), sea serpents, Loch Ness, the disappearance of Tennessee farmer David Lang, an Eskimo village where the RCMP found all the humans vanished, and the scariest thing I'd ever encountered ; "The Invisible Fangs", a story about a Manila girl being attacked and bitten repeatedly by an "invisible entity" that no one could protect her from.

Needless to say, such accounts as these had THIS young'un hyped up like nobody's business! And it can truthfully said that this is one of the most influential books in my life. It fired my imagination, it fired my curiousity, and it fired my desire to go out there and see what the heck was going on in the world.

Is the influence still there? You betcha. I still research such subjects, I have been an off-and-on ghost hunting dilletante for years (and had some MARVELOUS "encounters" down in Savannah, Georgia), and I once got to see a UFO make a monkey out of a jet fighter pilot . No bigfoot yet, no lake monsters, and no Wisconsin werewolves...but I'm still ready to go look. And, ultimately, all because of this book.

Now "Stranger Than Science" is NOT debunk-proof. Over the years, numerous stories that it relates have not held up to investigative scrutiny. "Farmer David Lang" never disappeared in his field because he never existed to begin with. He was something "filched" and "embroidered upon" out of an old Ambrose Bierce short story. And the Eskimo village that befuddled the Mounties? It never did. They weren't any missing Eskimos to find, because no such village existed except in a short horror story entitled "The Wendigo". No sea captain ever pickled a sea serpent's head, either. And in other instances things "kinda-sorta" happened the way Edwards says they did, but there is wiggle room in all that "kinda-sorta" to suggest possible rational explanations (or less "boogery" interpretations) for some of his shivver stories.

There ARE some accounts here that DO stand the test of time and investigation, and this most be acknowledged too. So what all stands up and what all doesn't? Well, heck, I'm not gonna TELL you. To exercise your mind and satisfy your intellectual curiosity, you need to get out there and "dig" for it yourself. That makes everything you learn WORTH more to you than if it is all handed to you on a platter.

Besides, the journey as half the fun.

Just remember, though, before you "diss" this book too much, just remember that it was out blazing the trail in paranormal and cryptozoological studies and research WAY BACK WHEN , and , for all its found-faults, it still has the power to inspire enthusiasm for seeking the truths about the "unknown" and the "unexplained".

Like everyone else, I read and enjoyed this book when I was a teenager. It contains some fascinating, mystifying tales, providing hours of entertainment.

I later discovered it was helpful in prompting a couple of young people (aged 10 - 11) to read more, for entertainment. Edwards' vignettes are stimulating enough to capture the attention of today's youngsters, who've grown up with televisions and computers. STS was a good transition tool for pushing them toward higher quality literature.

As an adult, years after taking a university journalism course, I happened to pick up Stranger Than Science again, and immediately discerned how weak the reporting was, how unsubstantiated the allegations and how non-existent the attribution. Frank Edwards didn't seem to be much of a skeptic, which appeared to result in a lot of blithe acceptance of a lot of fantastic tale-telling.

I read and re-read this book as a teenager and was fascinated by the bizarre collection of true? stories. Nothing of concern for youngsters which is a pleasant change. Well worth reading at any age.

As a teenager I read this book, including his second volume. The true, yet mysterious items intrigued me for years, causing me to search out spirituality and everything paranormal that could somehow explain the events listed. It gave me a healthy open mind towards new information. I've thanked the author for giving me an interest in reading and not being a "blind" consumer later in life.

Stranger than Science is a nice little collection of anomalies. In more than 70 very short chapters Edwards mentions a huge number of unexplained phenomena from unexplained archaeological evidence to dreams that inspired inventors in their sleep.

This is probably the only pseudo science I read as a child that is worth rereading now. Edwards has a writing style that is conversational and easy to read. Much of what he is saying is just thrown out there, but it is easy to sort out the rumors from the more backed up assertions. Sometimes he simply reminds us of oddities, like the inspirational dreams, that don't shake the world view but are good stories to tell. By the way there is no bibliography or index.

This is worth a read if you are interested in unexplained phenomena. It is sort of an organized conversational laundry list of the weird.

I read this book over 35 years ago, and it scared the daylights out of me (I recently picked up another copy, and it still does the trick). This is a great book to be read by candlelight on a dark and stormy night. What was that noise!?! Could it be the Flatwoods Monster? Or maybe the Jersey Devil? Strange disappearances and appearances, unusual coincidences, UFOs, invisible attackers, it's all here. Do you dare read it?

This book, and its sequels, contain some of the most amazing stuff. People who simply vanish...footprints made in the night by an unknown creature that go up and over houses and into the sea...engines that run on nothing...and the list goes on. What person, especially those under the age of twelve, wouldn't be fascinated by this? Of course, it was written half a century or so ago; later research and a more skeptical eye will find alternate explanations for most of this, but if you can read this book with the eye of a twelve-year old, then the possibilities are endless! The universe is a much richer place, I am convinced, for people that allow themselves to feel even just a glimmer of excitement at the thought that people can actually be teleported, or that Atlantis existed, or that people can just burst into consuming flame, or UFOs, or whatever. Trust me...if you have never read this you have no idea of the scope of the wierdities in this book. Find a copy, curl up in a chair, and prepare to have the word, "WOW!" pop into your mind more than once.

Stranger than Science is a nice little collection of anomalies. In more than 70 very short chapters Edwards mentions a huge number of unexplained phenomena from unexplained archaeological evidence to dreams that inspired inventors in their sleep.

This is probably the only pseudo science I read as a child that is worth rereading now. Edwards has a writing style that is conversational and easy to read. Much of what he is saying is just thrown out there, but it is easy to sort out the rumors from the more backed up assertions. Sometimes he simply reminds us of oddities, like the inspirational dreams, that don't shake the world view but are good stories to tell. By the way there is no bibliography or index.

This is worth a read if you are interested in unexplained phenomena. It is sort of an organized conversational laundry list of the weird.

Certainly not top shelf but nonetheless great reading. as a kid I actually wore out two copies from constant handling, reading and loaning the books to friends who were as impressed and enthralled as I was by the weird stories. My kids will be all over this book and regard it with as much delight and enthusiasm as I did as a kid. That is, they will when I'm finished reading it, again!

Innuendo and partial discussion are the strategy of the pseudo-scientist, and no one has been better at it than Frank Edwards. I am well aware that there are many unknown wonders in the world that science has as yet failed to discover and if it has been discovered, has yet to explain it. Therefore, there are things that are unknown and some of them are no doubt quite bizarre.
With this background, there is a grain of truth in much of what Edwards reports in this book. However, in nearly all cases, there is only a grain and once that grain is exceeded, he enters the area of absurdity. Now that Internet search engines such as Google exist, it is relatively easy to debunk much of what Edwards writes.
I read this book with fascination in my youth and was astounded. However, when my curiosity led me to further investigation, it became clear very quickly that the contents of this book were dramatic conclusions based on simplistic reasoning from weak initial premises. To see that simple read the blurb on the first page

AMAZING!
DRAMATIC!
INCONTESTABLY TRUE!