Journal of the A ir Release 2000108111 74 eplpr(~Ved an oclety F:Fr Psychical Research - Ther is sentation is attractive and largely free from typographical errors e a combined subject and name index; this seems to be less detailed than it could be, particularly in regard to the indexing of authors. These reserva- tions notwithstanding, Wings of Illusion is highly recommended. REFERENCES ARGYLE, M., & BEIT-HALLAHMI, B. (1975). The Social Psychology of Religion (rev. ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. BERGIN, A. E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical reevalu- ation and meta-analysis. Professional Psychology: Research & Prac- tice, 14, 170-184. GoRsucH, R. L. (1988). Psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psy- chology, 39, 201-221. IRWIN, H. J. (1991). A study of paranormal belief, psychological adjust- ment and fantasy proneness. Journal of the American Society for Psy- chical Research, 85, 317-331. ROSENBERG, M. (1979). Conceiving the Self. New York: Basic Books. SANUA, V. D. (1969). Religion, mental health, and personality: A review of empirical studies. In H. N. Malony (Ed.), Current Perspectives in the Psychology of Religion (pp. 173-190). Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans. SCHUMAKER, J. F. (1987). Mental health, belief deficit compensation, and paranormal beliefs. Journal of Psychology, 121, 451-457. TAYLOR, S. E., & BROWN, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210. TRIGG, R. (1985). Understanding Social Science: A Philosophical Intro- duction to the Social Sciences. Oxford: Blackwell. Department of Psychology University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia HARVEY J. IRWIN CIA-RDP96-00792ROO0700290001-9 Reviews of Scholarly Books 7f [THE HISTORIA, DE LA PARAPSICOLOGfA EN LA E HISTORY OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY IN THE AR ENT El. B~ Ale- jandro Parra. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Author, 1990. Pp. 91. [Avail- able from author at Mufiiz 539, Segundo Piso, Departamento A, Buenos Aires, Argentina.] $10.00, paper. The parapsychological literature is basically an English-language liter- ature. In part, this is justifiable because most of the rigorous experimental The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Vol. 86, January 1992 Approved For Release 2000108/11 and nonexperimental research has been carried out either in English- speaking countries or in countries where the authors have a command ol English fluent enough to place their articles in the major parapsychological journals. In addition, these countries represent the industrial, technologi- cal, "developed" nations where at least a few people have enough job security to pursue parapsychological interests on either a part-time or full- time basis. However, some key parapsychological research studies have been carried out in non-English speaking and/or "developing" countries as well. In addition, historians of parapsychology need information about the worldwide development of the field. Therefore, Alejandro Parra's com- prehensive survey of Argentine parapsychology comes as a pleasant-and important-surprise. The History of Parapsychology in the Argentine serves three key func- tions. It surveys the history of Argentine parapsychology; it discusses the social milieu in which Argentine parapsychology developed; and it under- scores key investigators and their findings. Parra divides his historical survey into four general periods: spiritism (1869-1896), mesmerism (1896-1924), "metapsychics" (which can be translated as "psychical studies") (1924-1953), and parapsychology (be- ginning about 1953). The parapsychological era has three subdivisions: parapsychology in private institutions (1953-1960), in university settings (1960-1970), and in various settings outside of universities (beginning about 1970). Parra claims that there were two subdivisions in the spiritism era: 1869 to 1877 and 1877 to 1896. The first phase was marked by the impact of Allan Kardec's writings, which made an even greater impression in neigh- boring Brazil. Kardec was a French educator whose best known works, The Spirit's Book and The Medium's Book, provided a world view as well as a pair of manuals for "spiritists" (a term that was coined to distinguish them from the "spiritualists" operating in the United States). Spiritism was highly organized by 1877 and eventually registered some 15,000 followers. But an Argentine Society of Magnetism was formed in 1896, which sponsored research on purported psychic phenomena produced by the "magnetic passes" developed by another French practitioner-Franz Anton Mesmer. The society had its own laboratory and eventually meta- morphosized into the Scientific Society of Psychic Studies (i.e., "Meta- psychics"), which began to interfere with the European psychical research societies. "Psychic photography" was scrutinized in the first decade of the 1900s, as were physical mediumship and telepathic communication. From a sociological point of view, Western European movements, es- pecially those of France, strongly influenced various aspects of Argentine life. Another organization, the Scientific Society for Psychical Studies, was established in 1912 with the French Nobel laureate (and psychical researcher) Charles Richet as honorary president. According to Parra, Richet used the term "metapsychics" or "psychical studies" to refer to "the science that studies phenomena which seem to operate as a result of CIA-RDP96-00792ROO0700290001-9 76 - Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research unknown forces." The popularity of "metapsychics" increased after the CPirst World War left Argentines a legacy of disillusionment and despair aat needed an antidote. Books about spiritism and mesmerism continued CD be published, and the historical eras identified by Parra were far from ascrete. Again, they reflected a European influence felt to be intellectually cmphisticated. This link with the intellectual tradition brought parapsychol- &y into several Argentine universities, but other social forces eventually 1%rminated academic laboratory work and courses. C8 The United States began to influence Argentine parapsychology once the D - Osearch work of J. B. Rhine became known. A variety of institutes at *npted to replicate and extend Rhine's experiments, and Parra identifies cpveral individuals who led this initiative. They include Orlando Canavesio 915-1957), a psychiatrist who studied the EEG correlates of ESP per ance; Jos6 Ferndndez (1893-1967), an engineer who applied proba L &ity theory to ESP research; J. R. Musso (1917-1989), an economist and ychologist who conducted "sheep/goat" tests with school children and authored a highly regarded free-response ESP test; E. Novillo-Paulf 19-1989), a Jesuit priest who studied PK influence on plants; and the c 0 nW7 rary -ne ara h K e an s in ' im p syc "=s In ltdst D r0aw1n Ok wh ha bg nilon mpe ta ma s e i s Ii i e pu ia=ing th bli; i0 f vni y v 11 n o Cuadernos de Parapsico g a and who (together or separately We conducted a variety of ESP experiments studying such variables as memory, emotion, and feedback. CoParra has done an exemplary piece of scholarly research, and his book fiRould give salience to the neglected field of Latin American parapsychol ~Y- He has nicely documented European and North American influences 0 Argentine thought, research, and practice, but he has left the reader tisd6formed as to whether or not a characteristic Argentine mode ever 11'eloped. Parapsychology in the United States attempted to demonstrate i2rigor by aping the behavioristic paradigm for several decades; one might culate whether Latin Americans found phenomenology, f leldwork, and/ T Wparticipant observation more congruent with their culture, producing diUa that were equally rigorous but perhaps richer in meaning and infor on. ikti it also would have been useful for Parra to summarize the major ac- cvplishments of Argentine parapsychology, as demonstrated by the num- b4k of citations in English-language literature reviews of articles by Musso, P~dvillo-Paulf, Kreiman, and others. He also could have tabulated the types of~esearch methods used by Argentine investigators as report ed in their p*ications; this would have given the reader a clue as to whether or not a national style exists--or ever existed. Nor does he address the divisive- ness that appears to characterize contemporary Argentinean parapsychol- ogy- Nevertheless, Parra has produced a groundbreaking book that contains several unique facets. His historical survey is embellished by quotations from the transcripts of a pertinent legislative debate, and by the revelation Reviews of Scholarly Books 77 that at one point government officials were associated with the field (19~t, mercifully, he omits discussion of the involvement of Isabel Per6n witgn astrologer during her brief term as head of state). Q There are few countries in the world in which parapsychology can clan to have established scientific roots. The hallmarks of this claim are owr more professional organizations, one or more scientific journals, arg a body of parapsychological researchers. Parra has elevated Argentina tojEs small assemblage-an assembly not much larger than the highly vauSd "nuclear club," and one that future historians might laud as having in&e noble contribution to human knowledge and achievement. a more 04 STANLEY KRiArR Saybrook Institute Q 1550 Sutter Street San Francisco, California 94109 IL PHYS MOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY. Edited by John Le4lk. ICAL ~MOLOGY New Y ork: millan, 1990. Pp. vii,,~`i- 277. $13.00, paper. L-C. cmi"an' 'c 89-12263. ISB -02-370021-1. ISB -02_370C 00 Physical Cosmology a' , Philosophy, edited by John Leslie, is a col% 'os ' m logy a " P1 tion of essays dealin i e anthropic principle (i.e., the idea thatse e wit s d ing 110 universe seems to be rat ier il '(safely designed in such a way as to supyat the presence of intelligent obse&ers). There are several ways in which"e ne-tuned so as to allow life to e universe seems to be specifically Vol For instance, as physicist Paul DaAks points out in his contribution to le. volume, if the rate of ehansion oP the universe had differed from-%s ly observed valuev%y as little as' e part in 1018, either all m.4r actual OP would have collapsedlin a black hole orl;he expansion rate would h4ve been too great to ayow galaxies and star~lto form. In either event, 10e would not have eAlved. Also, if the ratios of the strengths of the f~hir fundamental f had been slightly differeriti,- life (or at least carb s '07not have emerged. If th based life) coul e numbe'r~of spatial dimensions>f I the universe fad been other than three, planetary orbits would not u stab,le, resulyng in an environment hostile to life. T e of so many improbable c( h( )incidence4pakes it seem pro pre nce , lige to~ thou h universe has been designed (perhaps by an intq nt Crea g r. in sucfhway as to permit the existence of conscious observers. 'Me 21 contri tions in Physical Cosmology and Philosophy each try to grapple with this apparent evidence of purposiveness in the cosmos. Many of them The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Vol. 86, January 1992