8 Famous Scientists Who Believed in the Paranormal

It's amusing that some people cling to the belief that paranormal skepticism proves how intelligent and scientific they are when all it proves is that they are ignorant and close-minded. Science and belief in the paranormal are not mutually exclusive as these eight famous scientists demonstrate.

There is a long history of scientific inquiry into the paranormal. Most scientists won't openly profess to a belief in the paranormal or supernatural for fear of professional ridicule. But that's not always the case.

Philosopher and psychologist William James was one of the first psychical researchers who worked on a variety of paranormal and mesmerist cases. Respected in his field, and still studied today, James remained deeply skeptical with regards to psychic powers and paranormal realities. Like Thomas Edison and Freeman Dyson, James can't really be said to have been a paranormal believer, but all three of these men did devote considerable energy and resources into researching it....others followed up on their work and came to widely varied and controversial conclusions. Read more