The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations (Hardcover)

by Stephen E. Braude (Author)
Key Phrases: human bias, paranormal physical phenomena, complete levitation, New York, Historical Interlude, Some Thoughts (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The study of the supernatural has often been rejected by mainstream scientists on the grounds that it has nothing of interest to tell us. Philosopher and parapsychologist Stephen Braude does a beautiful job of proving them wrong. The Gold Leaf Lady is fascinating in its subject and insightful in its premise-that it's through exploring the world's mysteries that we truly learn to understand ourselves."-Deborah Blum, author of Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death (Deborah Blum )

"This book isn't just good, it's excellent. Stephen Braude is at the top of the intellectual food chain in the study of paranormal phenomena, an accomplished philosopher of science who brings his first-rate intellect to bear in a fair and deep treatment of the supernatural. Replete with personal accounts and anecdotes from his many investigations, The Gold Leaf Lady is a riveting read, a tour through the paranormal that both enchants and instructs us."-Fred Frohock, author of Lives of the Psychics: The Shared Worlds of Science and Mysticism (Fred Frohock )

"The Gold Leaf Lady describes what happens when a University of Maryland philosopher, a professional in the art of `deep nonsense' detection, collides with the perplexing world of the paranormal. Stephen Braude pulls no punches in his memoir of amazing, amusing, and at times poignant investigations. This book is sure to infuriate some and fascinate many."-Dean Radin, author of The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena (Dean Radin )

"This book is an easy read, provides some fairly strong evidence for the existence of paranormal phenomena and I''m sure will entertain most readers-other than [the author''s] professional colleagues."-Rob Harle, Metapsychology (Rob Harle Metapsychology )

"I enjoyed the book for its fascinating anecdotes and discussion of issues that they raise. . . . It can certainly be recommended . . . to anyone thinking about entering the ''psi'' area, for it gives a clear impression of the heat to be found in that particular kitchen. One has to admire Braude for having endured it so long with no apparent impairment of his enthusiasm or integrity." (Chris Nunn Journal of Consciousness Studies )

"The writing is so fluid that the book at times seems made for a screen adaptation. . . . But Braude also includes some dense philosophical arguments-especially in a chapter about synchronicity, in which he ponders whether humans can orchestrate unlikely coincidences through psychokinesis."-Scott Carlson, Chronicle of Higher Education (Scott Carlson Chronicle of Higher Education )

"Braude carries the discussion about the nature of consciousness and reality in light of the occurrence of anomalous events into deeper waters than those usually entered. . . . I liked this book." (Imants Barus Journal of Scientific Exploration )

"An incisive, disarmingly frank account of [Braude''s] parapsychological investigations." (Choice )

"Stephen Braude''s Gold Leaf Lady is by turns funny, serious, sad, and mischievous. Whether you''re a believer or not, you read his book hoping that it''s all true."-Chris Carter (Chris Carter )

Product Description

For over thirty years, Stephen Braude has studied the paranormal in everyday life, from extrasensory perception and psychokinesis to mediumship and materialization. The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations is a highly readable and often amusing account of his most memorable encounters with such phenomena. Here Braude recounts in fascinating detail five particular cases—some that challenge our most fundamental scientific beliefs and others that expose our own credulousness. Braude begins with a south Florida woman who can make thin gold-colored foil appear spontaneously on her skin. He then travels to New York and California to test psychokinetic superstars—and frauds—like Joe Nuzum, who claim to move objects using only their minds. Along the way, Braude also investigates the startling allegations of K.R., a policeman in Annapolis who believes he can transfer images from photographs onto other objects—including his own body—and Ted Serios, a deceased Chicago elevator operator who could make a variety of different images appear on Polaroid film. Ultimately, Braude considers his wife’s surprisingly fruitful experiments with astrology, which she has used to guide professional soccer teams to the top of their leagues, as well as his own personal experiences with synchronicity—a phenomenon, he argues, that may need to be explained in terms of a refined, extensive, and dramatic form of psychokinesis. Heady, provocative, and brimming with eye-opening details and suggestions, The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations will intrigue both adherents and detractors of its controversial subject matter alike.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; illustrated edition edition (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226071529
• ISBN-13: 978-0226071527
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #556,335 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy-to-read and yet scientifically sound, August 24, 2008

By	Bibliophiler (Wien) - See all my reviews

The "Gold Leaf Lady" refers to the case the chapter on which not only opens this book but is also its longest chapter. As the apparent gold turns out at the end to be only brass, the "Gold Leaf Lady" may serve as an excellent metaphor for parapsychological research: if you dig into it, you'll find something, but things are not as they appear, and what you found may be quite different from what you expected. It needs to have an open, non-prejudiced mind to carry out investigations in the paranormal. The author, Stephen Braude, is the right man in the right place. Being a professor in philosophy, he is a sharp and critical thinker, yet open-minded. This new book by him is different from his previous ones on related matters: as a case collection, it provides - though being scientifically reliable - rather easy reading stuff compared to his more scholarly books such as "First Person Plural" (on Multiple Personality Syndroma), "The Limits of Influence" (on psychokinesis), and "Immortal Remains" (on the issue of "survival" of bodily death) which are all highly recommendable.
The "Gold Leaf Lady", being a collection of several cases investigated by the author, has the additional advantage of being much more personal than his previous books. The reader accompanies the author, so to speak, meets the people he meets, etc., which makes everything very vivid.
Besides the "Gold Lead Lady" herself, there are several chapters on various topics and gifted persons (including one historical one) and a chapter on meaningful coincidences. What I found most intriguing is the case of the late Ted Serios, the man who was able to project mental images on polaroid film (labelled "thoughtography"). As Jules Eisenbud, the psychoanalyst/psychiatrist who over a number of years carried out the investigation of the Serios phenomena, has passed there was need to secure the Serios material. Braude was instrumental in this process that he describes in some detail. As one might recall, the eminent British psychologist/ parapsychologist John Beloff has detailed his fellow parapsychologist into two camps that he labelled "minimalists" and "maximalists" - the minimalists are those, like famous J.B. Rhine, who deal with effects that are very marginal in themselves, receiving their importance only through statistical analysis, thus following a "bottom-up approach". The maximalists, on the other hand, pursuing rather a "top-down approach", are more interested in large phenomena; Braude clearly falls into this category (and righteously so, I may add), and Beloff himself left no doubt that he sided with the "maximalists". I mentioned this to put Beloff's statement into perspective, "could there be anything more maximalist than thoughtography?".
The final chapter, however, is quite different, insofar, as it is not dealing with parapsychology but with - horribile dictu - astrology. It is an even more personal account than the other chapters as the astrologer in question is Gina Braude, the author's beloved wife. I am not sure whether the application of the traditional term "astrology" is correct in her case; discussing the conceptual foundations of astrology is not the issue, Braude deals with facts only, astonishing facts I'd say, where her predictions turned out to be correct. A good deal of these predictions refers to the world of finance (stocks rising or falling, and the like); there is no way she might have got all these correct by chance. (Of course, strictly spoken, from a statistician point of view, chance can never be ruled out, however, in her case presuming chance makes no sense at all.) So, what is it then? True astrology? I don't believe in astrology, for more than one reason (no concept of the kind of the presumed underlying `influence', or otherwise, no concept what makes such presumed correlations work, moreover, the celestial signs have changed their position during the past 2000 or so years whereas the attributes of these signs have not been adjusted accordingly by classical astrology, etc.). So, again, what is it then? A pure miracle (at least, at present)!
I rate the entire book (like all of Braude's publications) as highly recommendable for readers interested in anomalies and in parapsychology; it is thought-provoking and witty. I, for one, enjoyed it a lot.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyably written and thought provoking, November 8, 2007

By	Peter Barach "movie gourmet" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to say that I have always been skeptical about paranormal phenomena without taking the time to evaluate how valid my opinions may be. However, after reading this book, unbridled skepticism no longer seems warranted. It is not an intellectually defensible position to scoff without doing the homework. Braude describes his encounters with paranormal phenomena with a winning combination of humor, thoughtfulness, and intellectual rigor. He was particularly convincing in his discussion of the sloppiness that some skeptics demonstrate, such as attacking the weakly supported cases of paranormal phenomena while ignoring or misrepresenting the facts of stronger cases. I enjoyed this book, even the footnotes!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, December 2, 2007

By	Ljubomir Stojanovic "Buba" (Belgrade, Serbia) - See all my reviews

I am a big fan of Stephen Braude's work ever since I read his book on dissociation (First Person Plural), which helped me as a psychologist to fully understand this phenomenon. I found his writing, and his huge range of interests quite fascinating. He is able to think and explain very different subjects clearly, deeply and at the same time in a very interesting way, with an exquisite use of language and lots of humor.
So, I was waiting for his new book with great interest, and I was delighted to read it. It is different from (less technical than) his other books, yet it is a real treasure in one little package. The descriptions of his investigations are refreshing, light, easy to read, amusing and almost tense, so that one can't wait to get to the end of each chapter. They show his personal approach and his accessible writing style, but at the same time they are not just amusing but serious, and they force us to think about deep issues concerning the mind and its place in nature.
This book on the whole is, like Braude's previous books, a great combination of lightness in approach and depth of thinking. That is very characteristic of Braude as a writer.