ineteenth-century breakthroughs in the study of electromagnetism pointed to a vast realm of unseen forces that, with the right technologies, could be manipulated in perceivable ways. It was hardly a leap, then, to infer that science could demystify paranormal phenomena—respected physicists including Joseph John Thomson and Oliver Lodge also investigated telepathy and spirit communication. By the mid-20th century, psychical research waned in the scientific establishment but the desire
