[U.S.] George O. Abel et al., *Science and the Strange*, jointly translated and compiled by the China Institute of Popular Science Research, Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, September 1989
I picked up this old book on Kongfuzi.com (its condition is rather poor; it seems to have been soaked in water, though that does not affect reading it).
This book was written by many renowned scientists in an effort to push back against mystical science. It deals with astrology, water monsters and wild men, spiritualism, paranormal powers, witchcraft therapy, the Bermuda Triangle, aliens, UFOs, and other fashionable doctrines of mystical science. Besides a few specialist scientists from various fields, the authors include such big-name popular science writers as Martin Gardner, Asimov, and Carl Sagan, so the lineup is formidable. The content is also quite good; those who are half-skeptical about these mystical sciences may as well give it a read—though, among anti-pseudoscience books, the one I recommend most is still Carl Sagan’s *The Demon-Haunted World*, which was also once a “Xiaogu Jiqi” recommendation~
This book has an electronic edition on Sansi Science: http://www.oursci.org/lib/paranormal/index.htm
A literal translation of the title would be “Science and the Supernatural.” I have discussed “the supernatural” before—I think that as an object of scientific study, the concept of “the supernatural” is illegitimate. Science can study “paranormal powers,” but it cannot study “the supernatural.” The foundations that make scientific research possible include a naturalist presupposition: namely, the belief that all phenomena under investigation can be explained as natural behavior, and that nature is orderly and knowable. Even quantum mechanics, which shakes the foundations of science, merely changes our understanding of what nature is, what law is, or what knowledge is; the naturalist perspective itself does not change. Scientific research into supernatural phenomena would be self-contradictory. Even if supernatural forces really did exist, they still could not become objects of scientific study. What science can do is only classify certain phenomena as natural phenomena that are not yet understood at present; it can never determine certain phenomena to be supernatural phenomena.
For a strange new theory to be convincing, it must either be supported by repeatable experimental verification (or at the very least indicate to others how such verification may be carried out), or it must possess a very high degree of elegance, simplicity, and perfect internal consistency in the theory itself. The latter situation generally occurs only by sheer chance in the basic sciences, while the former is the basic norm of scientific research.
The questions posed in Chapter 1 are quite interesting: http://www.oursci.org/lib/paranormal/01.htm
Chapter 5, “Astrology and Modern Youth,” is particularly close to current concerns: http://www.oursci.org/lib/paranormal/05.htm
Chapter 8, “Scientists and Psychical Research,” mentions many examples involving great scientists: http://www.oursci.org/lib/paranormal/08.htm
23:42, January 24, 2007
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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