Spirited defense: William James and the Ghost Hunters.(Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death)(Book review) From: Skeptical Inquirer | Date: November 1, 2006| Author: Nickell, Joe | COPYRIGHT 2006 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death. By Deborah Blum. The Penguin Press, New York, 2006. ISBN 1-59420-090-4. 370 pp. Hardcover, $25.95.

Rivaling the new burst of rationalism among philosophers and scientists that was spawned by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in the latter nineteenth century, a counter movement of "spiritualism" and "unexplained" phenomena spread among the credulous. The craze had been sparked in 1848...