Dowsing

Abstract: James Randi is internationally known as a magician and escape artist. But for the past thirty-five years of his professional life, he has also been active as an investigator of the paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims that have impressed the thinking of the public for a generation: ESP, psychokinesis, psychic detectives, levitation, psychic surgery, UFOs, dowsing, astrology, and many others. Those of us unable to discriminate between geniune scientific research and the pseudoscientific nonsense that has resulted in fantastic theories and fancies have long needed James Randi and Flim-Flam! In this book, Randi explores and exposes what he believes to be the outrageous deception that has been promoted widely in the media. Unafraid to call researchers to account for their failures and impostures, Randi tells us that we have been badly served by scientists who have failed to follow the procedures required by their training and traditions. Here he shows us how what he views as sloppy research has been followed by rationalizations of evident failures, and we see these errors and misrepresentations clearly pointed out. Mr. Randi provides us with a compelling and convincing document that will certainly startle and enlighten all who read it.

Abstract: This fascinating and insightful tour through present-day meetings of Spiritualists, UFOlogists, and dowsers illuminates our obsession with the paranormal and challenges the misunderstanding of the paranormal as a marginal or inconsequential feature of America's religious landscape. * Chronologies focusing on the main developments in Spiritualist, UFOlogical, and dowsing history * Photographs of materials, culture, and events at Lily Dale, the Roswell UFO Festival, and The American Society of Dowsers annual convention taken by the author * A bibliography of authoritative scholarly works, primary texts, and theoretical frameworks pertinent to the study of Spiritualism, UFOlogy, and dowsing

Abstract: William Dowsing and the administration of iconoclasm, John Morrill Dowsing's homes, John Blatchly Dowsing in Cambridgeshire, Robert Walker the visit to Cambridge University, Trevor Cooper the arguments at Pembroke, S. Sadler Dowsing's deputies in Suffolk, John Blatchly brass, glass and crosses - finding iconoclasm outside the journal, Trevor Cooper in search of bells - iconoclasm in Norfolk, 1644, John Blatchly iconoclasm in other counties of the Eastern Association, Trevor Cooper history of the journal, Trevor Cooper the text of this edition of the journal, Trevor Cooper. Appendices.

Abstract: For the calibration of dowsing measurements, a practical standard "yardstick" has been adopted that involves dowsing pure geometry: in particular a dot (0-dimensional), as this produces a dowsable line, the furthest point of which is a precise measureable boundary. The advantages of this technique include an easy to produce universal standard, which is very practical, provides precise measurements, and is easily repeatable. The validation of this technique is proven as members of a group dowse the same phenomenon. Successful ground breaking research using this yardstick includes quantifying how dowsing measurements vary over time, and how earth energies and cosmic factors change dowsed dimensions.