Skeptical/Critical Approaches Record Type: Review   ID: 634
The Search for Psychic Power: ESP & Parapsychology Revisited Hansel, C.E.M.
This is the third version of a book by a British psychologist and critic of parapsychology to debunk parapsychological claims. The first, ESP: A Scientific Evaluation, was published in 1966. The second, ESP and Parapsychology: A Critical Evaluation, was published in 1980. This volume is a revision of the latter, although the author does not delineate the nature of the revisions as is customary in scholarly works. Much of the same material is covered but in rearranged format. This volume is in 6 parts rather than 4. The arrangement of this volume is clearer. The major sections are "Early Forms of Investigation," "Card-Guessing Experiments," "Contemporary Research" (ESP tests with machines, Maimonides dream/ESP experiments, Ganzfeld experiments, remote viewing), "Psychokinesis (greatly expanded section), "Nonexperimental Investigations: (anecdotal, spiritualism, work with "magicians" Van Daam, Marion, Stepanek, Geller), and "Conclusions." His conclusion is that although "the Schmidt-Morris-Rudolph experiment is suitable, given minor modifications, of providing the basis for a repeatable demonstration of PK, but to date attempts to repeat it have not been reported" (p. 271). A useful appendix reprints critical reviews of ESP and Parapsychology: A Critical Re-Evaluation, and Hansel responds to each. The subsection on Soviet parapsychology has been omitted from this volume.
Publisher Information:	Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1989. 308p. Chap. bibl; Index: 305-308; 5 figs; Suggested reading: 303-304; 18 tables

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