An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

Introduction | "R" Reading | Curse of the Pharaoh | End-of-the-World Prophecies

Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

survival-after-death There is probably no question which has preoccupied our species more than whether we can survive after clinical death. It is believed that other species are not aware of their own mortality, though that seems difficult to establish with any certainty.
      Over the years, famous figures like Sir William Crookes, Sir Arthur Eddington, inventor Thomas Edison, magician Harry Houdini, philosopher David Hume, and Sir Oliver Lodge occupied themselves with looking into this eternal question. But one figure in recent history stands out as the most important and influential advocate of the reality of life after death: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the internationally famed creator of Sherlock Holmes and an ardent promoter of spiritualistic matters, accepted claims that full-form materializations of the dead could be produced during séances and that survival-after-death had been firmly established.

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