About this title: 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 ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books, Buffalo
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Near Fine. 0879751983. Introduction by Isaac Asimov. Ninth paperback printing. INSCRIBED by the author. Near fine in illustrated wraps. read more
Edition: First Softcover Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Very Good. 8vo. (xv) 342 pp. Light edge and corner wear with some faint creasing on the spine; no interior markings. Illustrated with black and white photographs and drawings. The Chapters are: Introduction: The Deadly Misinformation by Isaac Asimov; Flim Flam; Fairies at the Foot of the Garden; All at Sea; Into the Air Junior Birdmen; The Giggling Guru: A Matter of Levity; The Paper Chariots in Flames; The Laurel and Hardy of Psi; The Great Fliess Fleece; The Medical Humbugs; The Will to ... read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 342 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. VG condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 342 p. Contains: Illustrations. A professional magician exposes mystics, mediums, psychic surgeons, and others who claim to possess supernatural or paranormal powers, demonstrating how their feats are little more than well-planned tricks that any competent magician can duplicate. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Date Published: 1982-06
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Like New. Like new condition, all pages intact w/o any marks or writing. Most items ship same day w/ FREE delivery confirmation. Great Feedback! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 342 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. no creasing, writing, or highlighting, like new read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 0879751983. Ex-library with usual stamps and markings. Dust jacket has light wear to extrems; in brodart taped to boards. Softening at spine ends. Otherwise the book is in very good condition; text is clean, binding tight. Literary Criticism. Pasadena's finest independent new and used bookstore.; 1.2 x 8.7 x 6.1 Inches; 342 pages. read more
Binding: Paperbound
Publisher: PROMETHEUS BOOKS, Buffalo, NY
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Very Good in N/A jacket. Occult Paperbound with no dust jacket in very good condition. Author claims all Psychics, ESP, Levitation, etc. are nonsense. Illustrated with b&w photos and drawings. Front flyleaf has very slight soiling. Solid binding. Page edging has slight soiling. Cover has slight soiling, some rubbing, and very slight browning around the outer margins. Front corners are slightly bent. 342 paes. read more
Edition: Fifth Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780879751982ISBN:0879751983
Description: Like New/FINE. No Jacket. Signed by Author FINE: SIGNED BY AUTHOR with gift inscription t famous magician. Fifth Printing. 1986. Softcover. Clean book. LIKE NEW. FINE. B83. Book from the "Amazing Randi". PSYCHICS, ESP, UNICORNS, DELUSIONS. Prometheus Books. RARE and Collectible book! Filled with several B&W Photos throughout. Small, faint corner crease-front cover. Paperback: 342 pages Publisher: Prometheus Books (June 1, 1982) ISBN: 0879751983 Product Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.0 x 1.2 inches. read more
"Skeptic and professional magician James Randi has made a second career of investigation claims of paranormal phenomena and psychic abilities, as a representative of the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). In Flim-Flam!, The Amazing Randi dissects a variety of paranormal beliefs and claims, exposing each as a case of deliberate fraud or unintentional self-delusion. In doing so, Randi establishes a code of skepticism not unlike Carl Sagan's famous "Baloney Detection Kit" (see Science as a Candle in the Dark).
Most of the phenomena dealt with in this book are fairly obscure, but significant in that many of the unsubstantiated claims and outright hoaxes managed to convince scientists and other "experts," including famed Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle, who examined the claims with a startlingly uncritical eye. Surprising to me was the large proportion of reported paranormal phenomena that were not fraudulent, but rather "honest" cases of distorted perceptions compounded with faulty logic. Of special interest was the chapter on "dowsing," in light of claims by former Analog Science Fiction and Fact editor John W. Campbell that the US military regularly used dowsers to find underground water.
It is crucial to note that the mission of CSICOP is not to "demonstrate" that paranormal claims are false, as this would require an a priori assumption of falsehood. Instead, CSICOP provides a means of testing such claims in a well-controlled setting, so that genuine psychic or paranormal activity can be demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. Nonetheless, no applicant for Randi's $10,000 prize (now $1 million) for verifiable paranormal activity has met with anything but utter failure in a rigorously controlled environment, where chicanery and flawed perception are readily identified."
"I would like to give this book a 4, but it's a little bit too dated ... It served more as a history of pseudoscience than a cutting-edge expose. The book does a lot to familiarize a reader with terminology and techniques common to pseudoscience, many of which remain relevant."
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