Description
Book SynopsisA history of traveling magicians, inventors, popular science lecturers, and other presenters of """"miracle science"""" who revealed science and technology to the public in awe-inspiring way, including electrical """"wizards"""" Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison, vaudeville performers such as Harry Houdini, UFO cultists, and practitioners of New Age science.
Trade ReviewThis is a fascinating and important study of popular science in America after the mid-nineteenth century, filled with memorable characters and the amazing demonstrations of their wonders. -- James B. Gilbert * author of Redeeming Culture: American Religion in an Age of Science *
A timely and illuminating exploration of American science and pseudo-science as embodied in 'wonder shows.' Fred Nadis impressively connects these colorful performances to contemporary debates about the power and prestige of traditional science amid recent challenges to science's intellectual and moral authority. A terrific book! -- Howard Segal * Bird Professor of History, University of Maine *
This is a fascinating examination of the boundaries between science, religion, and magic. -- Robert W. Rydell * author of All the World's a Fair: Visions of Empire at American International Ex *
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgements ix
Preface xi
Part l: Electric Wonders
Introduction 3
1 The Electric Wonder Show 21
2 The Techno-Wizard 48
Part ll: Mystic Vaudeville
3 The Hypnotist 85
4 The Magician 113
5 The Mind Reader 138
Part III: Millennial Wonders
6 The Missionaries 179
7 Flying Saucers 211
8 The Many Gospels 230
Bibliographical Essay 263
Notes 275
Index 307
