By Thornton PageOur Price: $15.00 Our Item Code: debate Postage Code: book2
310 Pages, Barnes and Noble Press |
| Our Review | Opinion of the webmaster, subject to debate |
This book was originally published in 1972, as the public summary of a scientific symposium held in December of 1969 in Boston. The symposium was something of a response to the Condon Report which had just been issued and had raised a lot of hackles. It presents the work of the contributors to the symposium, including all the heavyweights (Hynek, Menzel, McDonald, Sagan, etc), and as such is an important additon to any UFO library. It captures Sagan in his pre-wetblanket days, when he was much more optimistic about it all. Menzel's writings are particularly interesting, in light of the new information that has been brought forth on his background by Friedman. A whole array of positions are put forth in this work, and each is very well argued. It really hasn't lost any relevance even after all these years. -- tm
|
| Information from the Publisher | Always supportive |
Fifteen distinguished scientists-from such disparate fields as astronomy, physics, meteorology, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology, and the science editor of the New York Times discuss all aspects of UFO's. They present photographs and detailed descriptions of sightings, analyze the reports of witnesses and of data from equipment such as radar, and propose (or reject) hypotheses to explain the sightings. They devote special attention to the credibility of witnesses, natural phenomena that have been identified as UFO's, the unexplained cases, the connection between the UFO phenomenon and the news media, psychological factors affecting popular belief in UFO's, and the possibility that intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is trying to contact Earth, Some contributors commend, some criticige, past handling of UFO investigations by the Air Force and by the independent University of colorado Project led by E. U. Condon,
While the book takes no stand on the issue of UFO reality, it shows that there are still unanswered questions regarding the physics and psychology of the phenomenon, By confronting the questions through scientific investigacion, the editors hope to illuminate a problem of significant human concern,
Table of ContentsEditors' Introduction Selected UFO Cases 2 Historical Perspectives: Photos of UFO's (William K. Hartmann) 3 Astronomers' Views on UFO's (Franklin Roach)
5 Science in Default: Twenty-two Years of Inadequate UFO Investigations (James E. McDonald)
8 Motion Pictures of UFO's (R. M. L. Baker, Jr.)
10 Psychology and Epistemology of UFO Interpretations (Douglass R. Price-Williams) 11 Psychiatry and UFO Reports (Lester Grinspoon and Alan D. Persky) 12 On the Abilities and Limitations of Witnesses of UFO's and Similar Phenomena (Frank D. Drake) 13 Influence of the Press and Other Mass Media (Walter Sullivan)
15 The Nature of Scientific Evidence: A Summary (Philip Morrison) ADDENDUM
|
| Indexing Information | Other Relevant Ufomind Pages |
|
