J. Malcolm Bird

Harry Houdini (left), Malcolm Bird (back), Mina Crandon (middle), O. D. Munn (right).

James Malcolm Bird (1886–1964) was an American mathematician and parapsychologist.

Bird had trained in mathematics and taught as a Professor at Columbia University, he later became an associate editor for the Scientific American, upon quitting in 1925 he became the research officer of the American Society for Psychical Research from 1925-1931.[1][2][3]

Bird investigated spiritualist mediums such as Mina Crandon, John C. Sloan, Gladys Osborne Leonard, William Hope and Maria Vollhardt.[4] His experiences are mentioned in his book My Psychic Adventures (1924).

Bird has drawn criticism from magician Harry Houdini and the psychical researcher Walter Franklin Prince for his conduct in the investigation of Mina Crandon. Houdini and Prince strongly suspected that Crandon was fraudulent, but Bird had endorsed some of her phenomena as genuine.[5][6][7][8]

Historian Ruth Brandon has described Bird as a biased and unreliable witness.[9] More recently, authors William Kalush and Larry Sloman have suggested that Bird had conspired with Crandon in "stage managing the séances and achieving a positive vote from the majority of the committee."[10]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Mauskopf, Seymour H; McVaugh, Michael Rogers. (1980). The Elusive Science: Origins of Experimental Psychical Research. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0801823312
  2. ↑ Polidoro, Massimo. (2001). Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Prometheus Books. p. 106. ISBN 978-1591020868
  3. ↑ Samuel, Lawrence. (2011). Supernatural America: A Cultural History. Praeger. p. 16. ISBN 978-0313398995
  4. ↑ Bird, J(ames) Malcolm (1886-1964). Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Gale Group, 2001.
  5. ↑ Prince, Walter Franklin. (1926). A Review of the Margery Case. American Journal of Psychology 37: 431-441.
  6. ↑ Prince, Walter Franklin. (1933). The Case Against Margery. Scientific American. Vol. 148, issue 5, pp. 261-263.
  7. ↑ Christopher, Milbourne. (1969). Houdini: The Untold Story. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. pp. 187-199. ISBN 978-0891909811
  8. ↑ Hansel, C. E. M. (1989). The Search for Psychic Power: ESP and Parapsychology Revisited. Prometheus Books. p. 245. ISBN 978-0879755331
  9. ↑ Brandon, Ruth. (1993). The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini. Secker & Warburg. p. 265. ISBN 0-436-20060-0
  10. ↑ Kalush, William; Sloman, Larry. (2006). The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero. Atria Books. p. 420. ISBN 978-0743272087

Further reading

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