He blinded us with seance

• Autores: Matthew Tompkins
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3130, 2017, págs. 42-43
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Tompkins talked about conman Henry Slade. The luminaries, at the University of Leipzig in Germany, included Wilhelm Weber, inventor of the electromagnetic telegraph, psychophysics pioneer Gustav Fechner, Johann Zollner, the university's chair of astrophysics, and Wilhelm Wundt, who would later be dubbed the "father of experimental psychology", had been persuaded by Slade. His ability to convince and confound showed up the fractious state of science in the 19th century. Slade first impressed the Leipzig luminaries by deflecting a compass needle with only a wave of his bare hand. Later, as the men sat in a circle holding hands objects in the room winked into and out of existence. Slade's rise to fame began before his trip to Leipzig, when he decided to embark on a world tour of psychic demonstrations accompanied, he claimed, by the spirit of his deceased wife, Alcinda.