This book comprehensively surveys the colorful history of mass hysteria and kindred phenomena in schools, documenting outbreaks of demonic possession during witchcraft scares, to modern incidents of collapsing bands, itching frenzies, ghost panics and mystery illnesses.Strange behaviors and illnesses in students are examined through the centuries. Possessed children went into trance states and began to bark like dogs in 16th and 17th century Holland; an epidemic of twitching, tremb...

This eclectic history of unusual crowd behavior describes a rich assortment of mass phenomena ranging from the amusing and quirky to the shocking and deplorable. What do fads, crazes, manias, urban legends, moral panics, riots, stampedes, and other mass expressions of emotion have in common? By creating a typology of such behavior, past and present, the authors show how common extraordinary group reactions to fear or excitement are. And they offer insights into how these sometimes dangerou...

This historical review of the US treatment of immigrants and minority groups documents the suspicion and persecution that often met newcomers and those perceived to be different. Contrary to popular belief, the poor and huddled masses were never welcome in America. Though the engraving on the base of the Statue of Liberty makes that claim, history reveals a far less-welcoming message. This comprehensive survey of cultural and racial exclusion in the United States examines the legacy of hos...

It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic row. Since August 2017, the world media has been absorbed in the “attack” on diplomats from the American and Canadian Embassies in Cuba. While physicians treating victims have described it as a novel and perplexing condition that involves an array of complaints including brain damage, the authors present compelling evidence that ...

This work provides an accurate, in-depth examination and scientific evaluation of the most famous hauntings in American history as depicted in popular films and television programs.Neither a debunking book nor one written for the "true believer" in the paranormal, American Hauntings objectively scrutinizes the historic evidence behind such hugely popular films as The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, An American Haunting, The ...

The definitive account of a Lake Champlain legend."The lake surface was glass. My girlfriend and I were fishing from our anchored rowboat in about fifteen feet of water, facing the New York shore. 'Ron, what's that?' I turned. About thirty feet away I saw three dark humps … protruding about two feet above the surface. The humps were perhaps two or three feet apart. They didn't move. We didn't either. We watched in disbelief for about ten seconds. The humps slowly s...

On Sunday 30 October 1938 many Americans reportedly panicked after listening to a realistic radio play depicting a Martian invasion in New Jersey. The play was based on H.G. Wells's science fiction classic The War of the Worlds, and was broadcast by Orson Welles. Why did the script get by CBS censors? How did Welles ingeniously 'snare' listeners to other programmes? Why did newspaper editors deliberately exaggerate the scare? This event is one of the most notoriou...

This book provides an accessible overview of one particular type of social panic: that of the phantom attacker. Such panics are characterised by outbreaks of sensational claims of attacks by mysterious figures that seem to emerge from nowhere, attack their innocent human and animal victims, only to vanish without a trace. Taking the recent wave of needle-spiking reports in Europe as a starting point, this book does more than just catalogue such outbreaks historically and geographically. It...

A scientific detective story and a case study in the social construction of mass psychogenic illness.The authors provide dozens of examples of kindred episodes of mass hysteria throughout history, in addition to psychosomatic conditions and even the role of insects in triggering outbreaks.It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic row. Sin...

Vintage Sci-Fi 21 - 24 Science Fiction Classics from Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, Michael Shaara, Nelson S. Bond, Jack Williamson and moreFlight Through Tomorrow by Stanton A. CoblentzThe Big Bounce by Walter TevisThe Black Cat by Edgar Allan PoeYou Were Right, Joe by J. T. McIntoshThe Star Beast by Damon KnightThe Madness of Lancelot Biggs by Nelson S. BondSummertime on Icarus by Arthur C. ClarkeSt...

Lost Sci-Fi Books 461 thru 465 brings together five unforgettable adventures that span crowded future worlds, hidden dangers, lonely frontiers, and astonishing scientific discoveries. Featuring stories from some of the finest writers of classic science fiction, this collection is packed with imagination, suspense, humor, and the boundless sense of wonder that defines the Golden Age.Jerome Bixby opens with The Crowded Colony, a clever tale exploring...

Completely updated with new content and full-colour figures throughout, the second edition of this successful book continues to provide a comprehensive coverage of pineapple breeding, production and yield. Pineapple is an increasingly important crop and demand for fresh pineapple is steadily growing; stakeholders in the value chain are worldwide. The Pineapple: Botany, Production and Uses provides essential coverage from botany through to postharvest handling and provides the technical inf...