James Randi (1928–2020)

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Obituary James Randi (1928–2020)

Illusionist who exposed fraud to showcase the perils of credulity.

he illusionist James Randi devoted This alleged “memory of water”, published in much of his career to debunking Nature in 1988, seemed to offer support for frauds. Seen as a lodestar by the homeopathy. ‘sceptical movement’ that confronts Randi, Maddox and US National Institutes superstition and magical thinking with of Health biologist Walter Stewart, a specialist Tscience and rationality, he famously collabo- in scientific misconduct, went to Benveniste’s rated with an editor of this journal, yet would laboratory near Paris to witness a repeat of also have found a receptive audience in medi- the experiments. Randi created an element eval courts and Victorian theatres. That such of theatre by taping the code identifying individuals are needed now more than ever the samples for blind testing to the ceiling — is a reminder that advances in science don’t not so much to prevent tampering, he later banish credulity, but create new stages for it. explained, but to see if anyone would make the A precociously gifted child, Randi (born attempt. The episode added to the notoriety Randall James Zwinge in Toronto, Canada, of the original claim: one correspondent said it in 1928) developed an enthusiasm for stage confirmed his suspicion that “Papers for pub- magic. In his teens he literally ran away to join lication in Nature are refereed by the Editor, a the circus, becoming a ‘mind reader’ and an magician and his rabbit.” Benveniste’s findings escape artist. In the 1970s, his taste for spec- were largely dismissed after he (and others) tacle found him touring with theatrical rock proved unable to replicate them. star Alice Cooper, whom he ‘executed’ at the Randi courted that kind of controversy all

end of each show. his life. Some felt that the sage-like beard and FILM FESTIVAL TRIBECA THE 2014 FOR IMAGES BUSACCA/GETTY LARRY Like many who investigated spiritualism Elizabethan Reginald Scot’s assertion in The wizard-style hats detracted from his debunking and seances before him, Randi was keen to Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) that honest mission. But Randi was mindful of the lessons be seen as a sceptic rather than as someone jugglers and prestidigitators “always acknowl- of history: spectacle need not compromise on a mission to disprove. He challenged edge wherein the art consisteth”. rationality, but can be enlisted in its service. faith-healers, psychics and believers in One of Randi’s most enduring adversaries Since the 1960s, he had offered substantial UFOs, and in 1976 he joined with mathemati- was the British Israeli illusionist and self-styled sums to anyone who could demonstrate para- cian Martin Gardner, planetary scientist Carl psychic Uri Geller. A regular on 1970s TV, Geller normal or psychic powers — a stunt Maskelyne Sagan and science-fiction author Isaac Asimov would demonstrate his skills memorably in instigated. From 1996 until the prize was ter- to found the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. minated in 2015, the James Randi Educational The organization still publishes Skeptical “The descendants of Foundation raised the stakes to US$1 million. Inquirer, a magazine devoted to the scientific Although quacks and psychics are still in investigation of paranormal or otherwise medieval mountebanks business (and probably always will be), today extraordinary claims. ply their wares online.” the biggest danger of deception comes in The idea that stage magic can be used to a form that can threaten lives, nations and debunk superstition and psychic fraud was international structures: disinformation. familiar in the nineteenth century. Illusion- ‘psychokinetic’ spoon-bending. The two men From conspiracy theories to deep-fake videos, ist shows by the likes of John Henry Pepper developed a strangely symbiotic relationship. the descendants of medieval mountebanks at London’s Egyptian Hall were also popular Randi exposed Geller’s deceptions in his 1975 ply their wares online, sometimes packaged demonstrations of the wonders made possible book The Magic of Uri Geller; undaunted, Geller in ways that mislead even astute audiences. by optics and electromagnetism. In the early regarded their sparring as good publicity. Randi surely saw the ‘infodemic’ coming, but it twentieth century, John Nevil Maskelyne, a Geller’s feats looked underwhelming to has proved an infinitely more insidious oppo- founder of the UK Magic Circle, took on deceiv- anyone who had witnessed Randi in action. nent than the con artists of stage and screen. ers such as the spiritualists Ira and William I recall an impromptu demonstration at Randi died aged 92. His central message Davenport and theosophists such as Helena Nature’s office in the late 1980s, when he pro- is as important for scientists as for everyone Blavatsky. He also showed how the Indian rope duced a very plausible sketch of a word plucked else: “Don’t be too sure of yourself. No matter trick, which turns a rope into a rigid pole, can by an editor at random from past volumes of how smart or well educated you are, you can be done without recourse to occult powers. the journal. (It happened to be ‘position’.) be deceived.” Following the tradition of the Magic Circle, Randi’s involvement with Nature began whose members disavow any claim to mystic when then-editor John Maddox enlisted him Philip Ball was a physics editor of Nature powers (although they do not reveal their to investigate a claim by French immunol- during the Benveniste saga. His books methods), Randi dubbed himself an “honest ogist Jacques Benveniste, who had found include H2O: A Biography of Water and liar”, the title of a 2014 documentary on his recurrent biological activity in a solution The Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the life and work. Frankness about the nature of of antibodies diluted well past the point at World of Renaissance Magic and Science. magical stagecraft goes back at least to the which any active ingredient should remain. e-mail: [email protected]