Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [2]
In summary, this book still tells the basic story, while the modern media can fill in and amplify the picture of pseudoscience and nonsense as it develops day by day. Stay tuned.
James Randi
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
August, 2010
Acknowledgements
Some small part of the material here included appeared originally under my name in The Humanist, The Skeptical Inquirer, Technology Review, Science et Vie, La Recherche, and other periodicals. To the editors who gave me permission to use the material again in this book, many thanks.
The staffs of the Monmouth County Library and the Red Bank Public Library were unstinting in their efforts to assist me.
Mr. Brian Coe, of the Kodak Museum, London, was exceedingly patient and generous with his time and expertise assisting with the Cottingley photos.
For assistance in many ways, I must thank Piero Angela, Dr. Isaac Asimov, Professor Persi Diaconis, Dr. Eric J. Dingwall, Ken Frazier, Michael Hutchinson, Professor Ray Hyman, Drs. Richard Kammann and David Marks, Professor Phil Morrison, James Oberg, Dennis Rawlins, Hugh Rawson, William Rodriguez, and Alexis Vallejo.
And Broomhilda....
Acknowledgements for the Digital Edition
I would like to thank Michael Blanford, Director of Educational Programs at the James Randi Educational Foundation, for overseeing the process of converting and formatting this book for various digital devices. Thanks also to D. J. Grothe, President of the JREF, who has made digital publishing a priority for the Foundation.
Travis Dick volunteered his creative talents to produce a fine cover for this edition.
I especially appreciate the assistance of Fred Bremmer, Rhys Morgan, Lee Elliott, and Beth Burke in proofing and making formatting recommendations for this digital edition.
Introduction
The Deadly Misinformation
Not very long ago, I attended a conference at which, among other things, the reliability of the news media as purveyors of scientific inormation was discussed.
One person at the conference table described, with considerable contempt, an item on a television news program which went into detail concerning someone who claimed he had perfected a perpetual motion device, one which got energy out of nowhere.
It was reported "straight." No effort was made by the news program to point out that according to the best scientific knowledge of the day such a device is flatly impossible; that any number of perpetual motion devices had been presented to the world in the past and that not one had really worked; that all the inventors, in every case, had either been honestly mistaken or were knowingly perpetrating hoaxes.
He said, "Oh, well, what harm does it do? The newspeople are merely reporting a claim and, if it doesn't work, so what? No one is damaged!"
Whereupon I leaned forward and said, "You really don't see the harm it does? The world has now been plunged into an energy crisis. The availability of energy is going down year by year, the price is going up year by year, and the underpinnings of civilization are growing weaker as a result, year by year.
If civilization is to survive, humanity is going to have to make hard decisions and take strenuous action, and as soon as possible. We cannot continue to waste energy. We must develop alternate sources. We dare not continue to be heedless of the problem.
And then some newsman tells tens of millions of people of a claim that energy can be obtained out of nowhere and feels no responsibility at all for telling them that the claim is undoubtedly mistaken. He leaves the public with the feeling that there is no energy crisis since we can get energy out of nowhere, and that