James Malcolm Bird (September 2, 1886 – October 30, 1964) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and parapsychologist.

Career

Bird was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to James Gedney Bird and Eliza (Baltz) Bird on September 2, 1886. He trained in mathematics and taught as a Professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, he later became an associate editor for the ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'', upon quitting in 1925 he became the research officer of the

American Society for Psychical Research The American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) is the oldest psychical research organization in the United States dedicated to parapsychology. It maintains offices and a library, in New York City, which are open to both members and the gener ...

(ASPR) from 1925–1931. Bird investigated spiritualist mediums such as

Mina Crandon Mina "Margery" Crandon (1888–November 1, 1941) was a psychical medium who claimed that she channeled her dead brother, Walter Stinson. Investigators who studied Crandon concluded that she had no such paranormal ability, and others detected her ...

, John C. Sloan, Gladys Osborne Leonard, William Hope and Maria Vollhardt. His experiences are mentioned in his book ''My Psychic Adventures'' (1924). Bird has drawn criticism from magician

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

and the psychical researcher

Walter Franklin Prince Walter Franklin Prince (22 April 1863 – 7 August 1934) was an American parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research in Boston.Berger, Arthur S. (1988). ''Walter Franklin Prince: A Portrait''. In ''Lives and Letters ...

for his conduct in the investigation of Mina Crandon. Houdini and Prince strongly suspected that Crandon was fraudulent, but Bird had endorsed some of her phenomena as genuine. In December, 1930 Bird was compelled to resign from the ASPR after he admitted he had known of fraudulent activity regarding Crandon from the start. Walter Franklin Prince considered Bird "totally unreliable". The

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

's Honorary Research Officer V. J. Woolley noted that Bird was an inaccurate reporter, he had made factual errors about a séance sitting in 1923. Historian

Ruth Brandon Ruth Brandon (born 1943) is a British journalist, historian and author. Biography Brandon began her career as a trainee producer for the BBC, working in radio and television. She moved to work in freelance journalism and as an author. She is th ...

has described Bird as a biased and unreliable witness. More recently, authors William Kalush and

Larry Sloman Larry "Ratso" Sloman (born July 9, 1950) is a New York-based author. Career Sloman was born into a middle-class Jewish family from Queens. His nickname Ratso came from Joan Baez who said Sloman looked like Dustin Hoffman's character Ratso Rizzo ...

have suggested that Bird had conspired with Crandon in "stage managing the séances and achieving a positive vote from the majority of the committee." Bird died October 30, 1964.United States Social Security Death Index
" database, FamilySearch (accessed 15 May 2016), Malcolm Bird, Oct 1964; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

Gallery

Image:Malcolm Bird photograph.png, Fraudulent "

spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

" photograph featuring Malcolm Bird, taken by William Hope Image:Houdini with Malcolm Bird and Mina Crandon.jpg,

(left), Malcolm Bird (back),

(middle), O. D. Munn (right)

Publications

''Einstein's Theories of Relativity and Gravitation''
(1922) New York: Scientific American Pub. Co.
''My Psychic Adventures''
(1924) New York: Scientific American Pub. Co.
''Margery the Medium''
(1925) Boston: Small, Maynard & Company

Career

Gallery

Publications

References

Further reading