Mysterious Psychic Forces cover

Mysterious Psychic Forces

Rating 3.3
Word count
953K words
Chapters
96

Tags

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mysterious Psychic Forces by Camille FlammarionAuthor: Flammarion, Camille, 1842-1925,Language: English, Class: BF: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Psychology, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Release Date: Mar 27, 2012

Editor's review

This book is a representative work by Camille Flammarion, a French astronomer and pioneer of psychical research, exploring psychic phenomena; the English edition was prepared and released by Project Gutenberg. The author approaches séances, telekinesis, hypnotic suggestion and other controversial topics of the day with an astronomer's habits of observation, recording cases while attempting to distinguish fraud and coincidence from phenomena still awaiting explanation, and thereby presenting the intellectual scene at the intersection of late nineteenth-century science and the spiritualist movement. Its value lies not in reaching conclusions but in showing how a practitioner of empirical science confronts experiential material that exceeds ordinary explanation; it is of reference value to the history of science, the history of psychology and parapsychology. The prose carries a Victorian polemical flavor and a great many recounted cases; it rewards slow reading as historical material and can be read in comparison with later parapsychological research. General readers should treat it as a document of its era rather than an authoritative guide to paranormal phenomena.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers interested in nineteenth-century history of science and the spiritualist movement
  • Scholars and students of parapsychology, history of psychology or scientific controversy
  • Readers who enjoy primary sources and can accept an old-style polemical prose
  • Collectors of Flammarion's works and Project Gutenberg public-domain books

Not a good fit for

  • Readers seeking definitive conclusions or practical methods regarding paranormal phenomena
  • Readers who prefer modern academic surveys and demand rigorous methodological assessment
  • Readers impatient with lengthy recounted cases and Victorian prose

Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introduction first to understand the book's scope, then select case chapters by theme.
  2. Take notes on the author's distinctions between fraud and coincidence as you read, for comparison with later research.
  3. Read alongside works on the history of science or general histories of parapsychology to establish the period context.
  4. The English original uses old spellings and long sentences; limit daily reading to avoid fatigue.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96

FAQ

Is this book suitable as a reliable guide to paranormal phenomena?
No. The author wrote in the late nineteenth century, and the material comes largely from recounted cases and séance records of the time, lacking modern experimental controls. The book's value lies in showing how a scientific worker discussed controversial phenomena; it should be read as historical material on the history of science and parapsychology, not as a conclusive guide.
What background knowledge is needed to read this book?
Familiarity with the nineteenth-century European spiritualist movement, research on hypnotism and the general climate of empirical science at the time will help. Without this background, read a brief overview of the history of science first before entering the text, which will make it easier to discern the author's concerns and polemical targets.
How difficult is the English edition?
This is an English public-domain book released by Project Gutenberg, with long sentences, a Victorian polemical style, old spellings and extensive recounted cases. Readers with university-level English can finish it with a dictionary; proceed chapter by chapter and keep brief notes.
What topics does the book discuss?
According to the material and the author's research scope, the book centers on psychic forces, covering séance phenomena, hypnosis and suggestion, telekinesis and other controversial topics of the time, interspersed with the author's discussion of the authenticity of cases and possible explanations. For specific contents, refer to the actual e-text's table of contents.

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About the author

Camille Flammarion (1842–1925) was a renowned French astronomer and popular science writer who devoted his life to bringing astronomy to ordinary readers. Nine of his works are held in this collection, spanning a remarkably wide range: visionary novels set against the cosmos, such as Lumen and Urania; introductory guides like Astronomy for Amateurs; and works on natural and psychic phenomena, including Thunder and Lightning and Mysterious Psychic Forces. His writing often blends scientific fact with philosophical imagination, touching on celestial myths and humanity's ancient imaginings of the sky, and exerted a broad influence on popular science writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here.

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