James RandiRecensioni

Well-paced, interesting topic, with an enjoyable bitchy tone, on occasions. Well-written and enjoyable.

Un mago de renombre internacional y ganador de la codiciada Beca MacArthur, James Randi es un devoto investigador de afirmaciones paranormales, ocultas y sobrenaturales. Aquí lee el libro que ayudó a exponer docenas de engaños escandalosos ampliamente promovidos por los medios. En su enfoque sin restricciones de la verdad, Randi critica la investigación descuidada, los errores por descuido y las tergiversaciones dondequiera que ocurran. ¡Aquellos que no pueden distinguir la ciencia real de las tonterías de la pseudociencia tendrán mucho que reflexionar después de escuchar FlimFlam!

The faith healers described in this book deserve the Randi treatment -- it's clear that the contempt he holds for all of them was well-earned. Does tend to get a little redundant after a few hundred pages, but the sections on investigation are fascinating.

If Martin Gardner is the Godfather of skepticism, James Randi is the crude, but effective enforcer. He prefers to debunk by empirical means (as opposed to Gardner's thorough intellectual dismantling) and Randi hides no disdain, calling the "psychics" and other frauds charlatans and more while explaining how he handled the would be para-whatevers. And, he has yet to be proven wrong. Who best to out a trickster than a professional magician?

Magician and skeptic extraordinaire James "the Amazing" Randi examines and debunks all kinds of way-out-there stuff, from people who claim they can levitate by means of meditation, to "psychic surgery," to the Bermuda Triangle. He also details a number of experiments he conducted to test whether people with claimed paranormal powers could demonstrate them under controlled conditions. (Spoiler alert: They couldn't.)

Parts of this book, mostly chapters that focus closely on one particular topic, are in-depth, fascinating, and entertaining to read. (Although I suspect that whether one finds the tone of humor-laced curmudgeonliness Randi takes throughout charming or irritating is likely to depend upon one's predisposition.) Other parts are rather disjointed, choose odd details to focus on, and display, perhaps, more passion than polish in the writing. It's also kind of dated, as it was first published in the 80s and features a number of subjects that were big topics then, but have been replaced with new pseudoscientific fads since. (When was the last time you heard anybody talking about biorhythms?)

Still, uneven or not, I deeply appreciate the fact that this book, and other books like it, exist, and that Randi is and has been out there doing the things he does. His book about Uri Geller, in which he devastatingly exposed all the famous spoonbender's tricks, was a real eye-opener for me as a youngster. I started reading it as someone who'd always simply accepted psychic claims (as well as any number of other dubious phenomena) at face value, and finished it as a more mature and significantly less gullible thinker. I say we need more books that can do that sort of thing. Many, many more.

Sure, I'm interest in the paranormal but I also have an open, critical mind to it all. Both sides believes and views are fascinating. But the book was just boring. Nothing against the subject itself. Didn't catch my interest with the writing, is all.

This book systematically takes psuedoscience from the 60s and 70s and smashes it with the hammer of science. It can seem a little outdated, talking about pyramids, the Bermuda triangle, etc, until you start to see the patterns that are still around today. No one may be trying to pass off photoshopped pictures of fairies as real anymore, but there are plenty of people who believe in "power hologram" rubber bracelets, homeopathy, astrology, numerology, fung shui, tarot cards, palm reading, acupuncture, and any number of other hoaxes. This book teaches you to see these things like a magician sees them, to look for the trick, and to see them like a scientist sees them, as a phenomenon that, if genuine, is testable.

My reactions to reading this book in 1992.

An interesting book which reveals the many sides to Michael Nostradamus: quite, competent doctor, composer of recipes, and, of course, would-be prophet. Randi has done the unenviable task of wading through Nostradamus’ turgid, muddled poetry to debunk the 10 best cases Nostradamians put forth to bolster his credibility. Randi shows many of these are disguised retroactive prophecies or complete non-matches for the allegedly prophesied events. Randi also shows that Nostradamus did, on occasion, make quite clear prophecies -- which didn’t come true. Randi also delves into the interesting possibility Nostradamus was a Protestant sympahtizer. Randi also does some nice summarizing on other contemporary prophets to Nostradamus (like John Dee and Paracelsus), end of the world prophecies, 16th century medicine, and the history and types of astrology.

A few months ago I managed to obtain the six programmes that constitute the 1991 television series 'James Randi: Psychic Investigator' and enjoyed it very much; so when, last week, I found this accompanying book at a local charity shop I couldn't believe my luck (spooky, huh?). The book provides a decent overview of the various claims made by the show's astrologers, psychics, graphologists, et cetera, as well as a chapter exploring the topic of prophecy, while sprinkling throughout these explanations a few light-hearted observations of the claimants' behind-the-scenes behaviour. Although by no means an in-depth work, this is an interesting and enjoyable read, suitable for anyone with even the faintest glow of curiosity in the subjects covered.

Randi turns his "amazing" to the Seer of Salon. He examines the Nostradamus legend and how it sprang into being. He ranges widely through the history of prognostication, with side trips into astrology and alchemy to show the continuity of magical thinking. He spends quite a bit less time on Nostradamus than I would have wished, and examines in detail only 10 of the quatrains that have become quite prominent. He also spends little time on the spurious predictions that have sprung up with the name Nostradamus stuck on them posthumously. Overall, a good entry, but could have been better.

The man who exposed Uri Geller turns his attention to the vast commercial enterprise of faith healing. Exposing many of the tricks used by faith healers to bilk victims out of their money is the main gist of this book, and he discussed some of the big names, including his expose of Peter Popoff and with a chapter on everyone's favorite, Oral Roberts. One place where the author and I do part company is that I feel perhaps a fool and his money should be soon parted.

Originally published in the early 80's the book covers things that are outside today's new age sphere. Spending time on ufology,the Bermuda triangle, and von daniken's aliens as gods theory.

It is also quite a dry read as Randi assembles facts and uses them to debunk or demolish various stories & psychics.

Chapter 13 in which he presents attempts on the (then) $10,000(*) Randi prize, is whilst enlightening quite depresssing. Self delusion, chicanery & charlatanism parade by. If you are a magician or want to be there are some nice things you can probably take away from it though.

(*) now $1,000,000 and still unclaimed.

A fun collection of beginning magic tricks from master magicians.½

Mysteries Revealed!

The Amazing Randi searched the world of magic to bring you the illusions described in this book. Here they are by country of origin from Canada to Viet Nam:

•Canada, Dean Gunnarson, "The Houdini Coin"
•France, Steve Gotson, "You Do As I Do ... If You Can!"
•Ireland, Billy McComb, "Sorting Out the Cards"
•Italy, Massimo Polidoro, "Restored String"
•Jamaica, Michael Chen, "The Buddha Papers"
•Mexico, Joaquin Ayala, "Nick Nack
•Puerto Rico, Alexander, "The Magic Hole"
•South Africa, Steve Shaw, "I Never Miss!"
•Switzerland, Martin Cottet, "Color Telepathy"
•U.S.A., Tony Albano, "Time for E.S.P."
•U.S.A., Angel, "The Ghost Pencil"
•U.S.A., Arthur Benjamin, "Gotcha!"
•U.S.A., Harry Blackstone, "The Amazing Black Hole"
•U.S.A., Nathan Burton, "The Holy Handkerchief"
•U.S.A., David Copperfield, "The Jumping Rubber Band"
•U.S.A., Goldfinger & Dove, "How Many Cards?"
•U.S.A., Denny Lee & Minh, "E.S.P. By Telephone"
•U.S.A., Tina Lenert, "The Evaporating Glass"
•U.S.A., Harry Maurer, "The Next Card I Turn Over"
•U.S.A., Penn & Teller, "The Trick that Never Goes Wrong"
•U.S.A., James Randi, "Cards in the Pocket"
•U.S.A., Robert Steiner, "A Sure Prediction"
•U.S.S.R., Oleg Medvedev, "Vanishing Knot, Is It Not?"
•Viet Nam, Alan Nguyen, "The Turnover Coin"

This book is well written by James (The Amazing) Randi and attractively illustrated by Penny Alexander. The attentive reader will learn about shuffles and steals, palms and cuts, gaffs and gimmicks, acts and effects, misdirections and props.

Each effect is introduced with a flattering portrait of a magician accompanied by an equally flattering portraiture of the same. This is followed by a brief description of the performer's magical selection in company with a detailed explanation of how it's done. Numerous illustrations, beautifully penciled, clarify the tricky moves and the role of props, which include cards, coins, paper, handkerchiefs, napkins, strings, shoelaces, books, magazines, pencils, crayons, rubber bands, and a glass.

My Favorite Quote: "The Spectator ... may attribute alien powers to you!"

My Favorite Effect: "Sorting Out the Cards" by Ireland's Billy McComb.

About James (The Amazing) Randi

James Randi is a writer, educator, historian, skeptic, magician, escape artist, investigator of paranormal boasts, debunker of occult claims, revealer of faith healers' tricks, exposer of flim-flam artists, Uri Geller's truth detector, and challenger of psychics everywhere.

The James Randi Education Foundation is offering one million dollars to anyone who can show incontrovertible evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. Since 1964, more than 1,000 people (including psychics, mediums, dowsers, astrologers, faith healers, exorcists, and hustlers) have submitted applications to claim the prize. As of November 5, 2008, no one has ever demonstrated the paranormal ability they claimed to possess.

Purchased this book at TAM6 and had it autographed by The Amazing One himself, “To Susan from James Randi.” Pretty cool! I am amazed at how well researched this book is, the detail and documentation clearly shows Randi as a through scholar. I knew little of Nostradamus before reading this book, little outside of popular culture that is.

According to Randi, there is nothing to Nostradamus’s “predictions” all “hits” are in the mind of the believer. The predictions are stretched to fit an event after the event has taken place, no quatrain has ever been used to predict an event before it occurred. Humans adjust the French, spelling, punctuation, even anagram the quatrain to make it appear Nostradamus is a seerer.

The French and English history of this time is more interesting to me than the analysis of the quatrains. (Probably because I knew they were bunk to begin with) As usual I am approaching my education (of history) from many different perspectives, Nostradamus is just the most recent, but maybe the most colorful addition.

Randi writes that many of the Nazi and Hitler references were written during WWII, and dropped over occupied territory in order to undermine German war aims. I had an interesting thought while reading the chapter on WWII, the Nazis and Stalin are often characterized negatively as atheists, they may well be, what is forgotten is that they may have turned from religion, but have turned to the occult and pseudoscience instead. There are middle grounds between atheists and the religious, one area is the crazy world of pseudoscience.

Interesting to read about the affects of absinthe, apparently Nostradamus may have used this French liqueur, made from wormwood it is known to bring “…about powerful hallucinations yearning disorientation, crushing depression and often total insanity.” 70%-80% alcohol content is enough to cause serious damage to the central nervous system, some of the notables that used absinthe are Edgar Allan Poe and Van Gogh, humm.

The answer to the question, does Randi believe Nostradamus to be a fraud or a believer in his ability to prophesize may be answered on page 154. Randi is discussing Edgar Leoni’s opinion that it is “…too farfetched to be acceptable…that Nostradamus could have fooled his ‘disciple’, his son…various notable of Salon, the rulers of France…and scores of other people with this gigantic ‘joke’ of his is quite ridiculous.” Randi’s answer to this is that “Charlatans have always been able to deceive…because these persons usually have no expertise with which they can differentiate between popular fraud and genuine phenomena, yet passionately believe themselves about being deceived.”

Over all this is a wonderful book, lots of detail and research. Randi’s writing style is very readable, you feel he might just be talking to you. I just wish I were more interested in Nostradamus and French history in general. I may need to revisit this book again.

22-2008

Reviewed July 2002

Extremely interesting yet dated, Uri is all but forgotten to American culture. I'm sure this book was really controversial at the time, I wonder how much impact it had on Uri's demise? I understand that because of this book Geller sued Randi and CSICOP and that is the reason between the friction of the two. Apparently CSICOP dropped out and left Randi with terrible costs. I spent two hours waiting at the airport with Ray Hyman who told me of his experiences with Geller. I have included these notes in this book. Randi never seems to be caught, though Uri is always messing up. Randi does the same tricks but without the lax conditions Geller encounters, I don't know how much to put in what Randi says, he seems very full of himself (probably has reason to) Throughout the book, Randi proves that Geller is nothing more than a talented magician with charm and good looks.

12-2002

Reviewed July 2002

Randi gives an interesting overview of cases he has been interested in. And these cases are very diverse indeed, air, water and Uri are just a few areas. The book is terrible dated (Randi's prize is only 10K) and many things like the Bermuda triangle are almost never mentioned these days. He does explain many different kinds of cases from people who shoot pictures of their hands and faces to people who tip tables. Card sharks dowsing, and on and on. This book must have been useful when it was current.

13-2002

If one were to choose a history based on its title alone, James Randi's Conjuring: Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sor cery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, and Chicanery and of the Mountebanks and Scoundrels Who Have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, Magic! would have to be at the top of the list. Yet the work belies its title -- though well-written and beautifully produced, the book is not a definitive history. In fact, Randi begins the book with an apology for those wonderful performers he omits. Conjuring is also lacking in original scholarship -- Randi admits that he "shamelessly took" material from many of his bibliographic sources. But it remains a stylish, engaging and gloriously illustrated 314-page tour of the world of magic and its most noted performers, and includes a glossary, a listing of past and present magicians, an index of magic dealers, and a list of magic periodicals and organizations.

I know Randi is more than a bit mean-spirited at times, but on the whole I appreciate this book: I'm quite sure there are real psychics out there somewhere...but so few that it's statistically unlikely anyone's ever going to claim Randi's prize.

7/10/22

The subtitle for this book is James Randi's Decidedly Skeptical Definitions of Alternate Realities. The definitions are organized alphabetically beginning with ABARIS (whose legendary credentials include being the teacher of Pythagoras, flying like a witch on a Golden Arrow, and becoming invisible like a magician) and ending with ZOMBIE (a Haitian superstitious belief related to voodoo).

Regrettably, this very fine encyclopedia is marred by Randi's flippant attitude toward the Bible and its miracles. For example, in his article on the Bible, Randi lightly ridicules the Judeo-Christian Scriptures by citing a few silly errors of translation from early English renditions.

About the King James Version of the Bible, Randi writes, "The 1611 King James Version of the book is now recognized as the authorized edition." This sweeping generalization is a careless conclusion by a researcher and writer who, for the most part, appears to be careful and accurate in his writing. In fact, the King James translation of the Bible was commissioned for the Church of England in 1611. It was recognized by them at that time, not by most Christians today, as the Authorized Version.

If the KJV were recognized by believers today as the once-and-for-all-and-forever Authorized Version, there would be no market for the plethora of modern Bible translations into English. Furthermore, believers who don't speak English would be denied a Bible in their own tongues if the KJV were the one-and-only Authorized Version for all mankind. Yes, there are some King-James-Version-only Christians who cling to the Authorized Version as the solitary Word of God. But most Christians today believe that the King James Version was provincially authorized for benefit of the Church of England in 1611, and not for the worldwide churches of North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and the Islands of the Sea in the succeeding centuries.

John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was asked, "What is the best Bible version?" He answered, "Whichever one you will read." This answer satisfies most Christians today. The words "authorized edition" do not enter into the equation.

In Appendix 2, Randi turns his attention to forty-nine end-of-the-world prophecies that failed. Number One in his list is Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 16:28 about "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom," which Randi interpreted to mean the end of the world. Based on what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom," Randi concluded that "The End should have occurred before the death of the last Apostle." Alas, the Apostles died and the world did not end. (Randi 1, Jesus 0?)

Does "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" really mean the end of the world? What do Jesus' followers think He was saying when He told his disciples that some of them would not taste of death "till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1)?

Eschatologically speaking, Jesus was not really talking about the end of the world in Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1. If you want to know what Jesus prophesied with respect to the end of the world, read Matthew Chapter 24. He said that only His Father in Heaven knows the time of the end. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

In The People's New Testament (1891) with explanatory notes, B.W. Johnson explains Matthew 16:28 this way: "The reference is not to his final coming to judge the world, but to his spiritual coming to establish his kingdom. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Mark shows the meaning by substituting, 'Till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power' (Mark 9:1). 'The coming of the Son of man in his kingdom' means, therefore, the same as 'the kingdom of God come with power.' Compare Acts 1:8 and Luke 24:49. The kingdom came with power on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1)."

Speaking of the end of the world, Randi's Encyclopedia includes a brief article on Armageddon because of its popular designation as the scene of the final battle between the kings of the Earth at the end of the world. Randi says that the Apostle John's Book of Revelation predicts a battle at Armageddon between good and evil that will produce a "river of human blood 'to the height of a horse's bridle' for a distance of 200 miles."

Randi makes a strong case for the physical impossibility of such an event with nary a thought for a spiritual interpretation of said vision. Apparently it is up to me to bring to the reader's attention the fact that the Apocalypse of John is the most symbolic and emblematic book in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation is filled with fantastic figures and scenes that were seen by John in his visions. I am of the opinion that a strictly literal interpretation of the signs and symbols that are found in apocalyptic literature is incompatible with sound biblical exegesis. When the Apocalypse of John tells about his visions in which he saw things that looked like frogs, dragons, beasts, false prophets, and rivers of blood, it seems to me that it behooves the reader to interpret these figures spiritually and figuratively, not literally.

There are other problems with Randi's view of Armageddon. These problems arise because Revelation 16:16 is the only verse in the book that even mentions Armageddon. For proper understanding, this singular reference to Armageddon needs to be considered within the larger context of Chapter 16, a chapter devoted to John's visions of the Seven Bowls of God's Wrath.

Vision 1. The first bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:2) was poured out on the earth from heaven and caused those who had the mark of the beast to be covered with ulcerated sores.

Vision 2. The second bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:3) was poured out upon the sea, "and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died."

Vision 3. The third bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:4) was poured out "on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood."

Vision 4. The fourth bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:8-9) was poured out "on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire."

Vision 5. The fifth bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:10-11) was poured out "on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness."

Vision 6. Now we come to the vision of Armageddon. The sixth bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:12-16) was poured out "on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East." A lot more detail is contained in John's vision of the sixth bowl than was provided for the first five bowls. John continued, "Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16:13-14). Then in the final verse about the sixth bowl of judgment, we find the one and only mention in Revelation of Armageddon as follows: "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon" (Revelation 16:16).

Vision 7 This brief reference to Armageddon is followed immediately with the seventh bowl of judgment (Revelation 16:17-21) which was poured out "into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'It is done!'"

Here are the facts about Armageddon as told by the John the Revelator. First, popular notions notwithstanding and Randi's Encyclopedia article about Armageddon notwithstanding, there is no Battle of Armageddon. The stage is set for the great Battle of Armageddon, but God preempts the actual battle with the seventh bowl poured out into the air. I repeat, there are preparations for battle and the armies gather for battle, but there is no battle. Plagues from heaven bring the preparations to naught. Before a shot could be fired, God announced, "It is done!" End of Story.

Second, Randi's pronouncement notwithstanding, there is no mention in Revelation Chapter 16 at Armageddon about a "river of human blood 'to the height of a horse's bridle' for a distance of two hundred miles." Randi takes this reference about a river of blood from a different context in Revelation 14:20 and misapplies it to Armageddon in Revelation Chapter 16.

Revelation Chapter 14 tells about John's visions of the 144,000 redeemed, the angel with the everlasting gospel, the fall of Babylon, the doom of the beast's worshipers, the blessed dead, the harvest of the earth, and the great winepress of God's wrath. In the last of these seven visions, John saw clusters of grapes thrown into the winepress of God's wrath. It was then and there, not at Armageddon, that the grapes of wrath "were trampled in the winepress outside the city [Jerusalem], and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia" (Revelation 14:20).

There is no formal connection of the visions in Revelation Chapter 14 with the visions in Chapter 16. Randi's joining of the two is a leap of faith. (Oops! My bad! Randi is a skeptic. Therefore, his association of the grapes of wrath with Armageddon is apparently a leap of incredulity.)

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) interpreted John's apocalyptic language spiritually and figuratively, not literally, in the Battle Hymn of the Republic:

Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning
of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!...

Third, Randi brushes aside John's mention of a "river of human blood 'to the height of a horse's bridle' for a distance of two hundred miles" by concluding, "It appears that St. John's figures are poorly arrived at. But perhaps that is one of the properties of a miracle."

A miracle? Theologically, eschatologically, and exegetically, Randi completely misses the point. We are not looking at miracles in Revelation Chapters 14 and 16. We are looking at apocalyptic visions -- fantastic, grotesque, vivid, wondrous, nightmarish, hair-raising, magnified, hyperbolized sights and sounds experienced by the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos at the end of the First Century AD.

Professor Randi, it's okey-dokey to express honest doubts about miracles, but it is picayune to niggle over visions.

About James (The Amazing) Randi. James Randi is a writer, educator, historian, skeptic, magician, escape artist, investigator of paranormal boasts, debunker of occult claims, revealer of faith healers' tricks, exposer of flim-flam artists, Uri Geller's truth detector, and challenger of psychics everywhere.

The James Randi Education Foundation is offering one million dollars to anyone who can show incontrovertible evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. Since 1964, more than 1,000 people (including psychics, mediums, dowsers, astrologers, faith healers, exorcists, and hustlers) have submitted applications to claim the prize. As of November 5, 2008, no one has ever demonstrated the paranormal ability they claimed to possess.

Supernatural

Just got this book myself. Strangely enough, I know the one other person who has reviewed it