The Australian edition was published by Allen & Unwin in June, 2004. |
The Skeptic's Guide to the
Paranormal describes some of the best known pseudo-scientific
claims and the rational explanations which can be offered
to explain what is weird and wonderful.
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The American edition was published by Thunder's Mouth Press, an imprint of the Avalon Publishing Group, March, 2005. |
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'We find ourselves in a society which erroneously believes it
has undergone an Enlightenment, but has only experienced a certain
degree of Brightening. Lynne Kelly's informative book should never
have been needed, but obviously is. Telling people what they already
know - that there is no Tooth Fairy, magic is a subject for children's
story books and immortality, ESP and astral projection belong in fantasy
stories - is made a more acceptable and communicable message via this
book. Kudos and applause to the author. Let's have more ...' |
Contents:
Do you believe me? |
What the reviewers
have said:
Lucy Sussex, The Sunday Age, June 6, 2004
"Lynne Kelly carefully debunks hundreds of alleged paranormal phenomena, from UFOs to the Bermuda Triangle. The Loch Ness Monster? Crop Circles? Hoaxes!" Tony Maniaty, The Weekend Australian, 5-6 June,
2004
"After a new party trick? Read this book and you'll learn how
to bend spoons like Uri Geller. The author explains a range of paranormal
phenomena, providing rational and scientific explanations to many mysteries
- the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, ghosts and
even spontaneous combustion! * * * * "New Idea, June 19, 2004
"Many people would like to believe in psychic abilities that
can provide an element of wonder and comfort in a difficult world.
Lynne Kelly is one of them, but has discovered trickery and delusion
instead of enlightenment."Sunday Herald, Sun, June 6, 2004
"Buy this book. ... Lynne Kelly has been teaching science and maths for over 30 years but there are few overt traces of pedagogy in The Skeptic's Guide. Rather she carefully lays out the claims and explanations made for variously commonly held beliefs then leads the reader gently towards consideration of other explanations. ... ... This is a book no skeptic can afford to be without. It will give you the wherewithal to answer all those questions which constantly crop up at dinner parties, meetings of the knitting circle or football club, and in terms that require no deep understanding of quantum physics or abnormal psychology." Barry Williams, the Skeptic, Winter, 2004.
" I liked that not only were
the people who believed in such things as psychics not stupid and
gullible, but it was possible that some of the psychics themselves genuinely
believed in their powers. ... Plus, there was all the science which
was uber-interesting, plus:
Suspenseful-much.
I refer mostly now to the chapter
on spirituality: When the whole seance was described, a lot of it I could
cynically think of how it was done. After all, smoke and mirrors is my trade.
But the ectoplasm forming a human figure.... I actually shouted, "HOW ARE
YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN THAT, MISS FANCY PANTS SCIENCE? HUH?" much to the confusion
of my fellow train passengers. Actually, that's a lie. I didn't read
any of it on a train. I read it all in my bed between 3am and 6am
this morning.
So... I'd say, a 5 out of 5.
This isn't just, Oh, I know Lynne
and have to be nice to her about her book score. I actually, really enjoyed
it. It explained things which have puzzled me for years, and thus was goodly."
Cam Smith, Virtual School student
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From Aussie Reviews.
Review by Sally Murphy.
For all those who have ever wanted to get to the bottom of
mysteries such as these, and for those who have refused to believe but haven't
had the means to disprove the myths, The Skeptics Guide to the Paranormal
is a boon. Through case studies and detailed explanation, Lynne Kelly explores
the scientfic explanations for more than twenty areas of common paranormal
belief.
Ms Kelly does not scoff or ridicule genuine believers - rather she explores in matter of fact language what is commonly believed, the various theories that have been put forward to explain the phenomenon and, finally, the scientific explanation. What is obvious in every chapter is that Ms Kelly has not jumped to any conclusions, but has instead kept an open mind and approached the issues scientifically. From firewalking, to spoon bending, ghostly apparitions and Yetis, she explores all the avaiable evidence in detail.
This is enlightening reading, but it is also very entertaining. Readers will be fascinated by the various beliefs, the evidence and case studies, as well as by the explanations of the various phemonena.
An outstanding read.
Tauromancy
In order to fully understand
psychic readings, and the use of cold reading, I developed
my own divination system to rival Tarot, Astrology,
Palm Reading and Numerology, based entirely on cold
reading techniques. It is called Tauromancy.
Using this method, which I can guarantee has no validity
other than as a creation of my own imagination, and, of
course, the science of psychology. I have been rated with
over 80% accuracy in most 'psychic' readings given, at times
reaching 100%. This is the power of cold reading, as is
explained in The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal.
To see what Tauromancy looks like, just click here.
A description of Cold Reading on Wikipedia: 
