New on Youtube: Poltergeist – the Finale!

The third and final video in our series on poltergeist phenomena and hauntings in the history of science (and this time also medicine) has just gone live. This episode is on the longer side, as we will dwell quite a bit on twentieth-century continental Europe. Once again, you are going to encounter several figures not … Read more

New on Youtube: “Poltergeist Phenomena and the History of Science”

I made a new video for you! This and the following videos are based on my first Forbidden Histories article, “The Naturalization of the Poltergeist” (click here to read). Here’s part 1: For those who would like to do their own historical research, here’s an UPDATED BIBLIOGRAPHY with references for the article and both parts … Read more

Can Psychotherapists Benefit from History of Science Scholarship?

Historians rarely have the opportunity to say something that might be of practical relevance to clinicians or workers in other fields of applied scientific knowledge. As mentioned previously, I was therefore particularly chuffed when psychotherapist Nick Totton invited me last year to contribute an article to an envisaged special issue of the European Journal of … Read more

The Naturalization of the ‘Poltergeist’

Ostensible ‘poltergeist phenomena’ are the very epitome of ‘things that go bump in the night’, and most modern scientists would probably relegate them to the realm of fairy tales without thinking twice. And yet, for historians studying the historical continuity of scientific interest in the supposed ‘supernatural’, they offer surprising insights. Probably coined by Martin … Read more