Ivor Lloyd Tuckett (1 February 1873 – 28 November 1942) was a British professor of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the ...

Career

Tuckett was born at Cleveland Gardens,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He studied natural science and physiology at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

between 1890 and 1894, where he was awarded the degrees of BA (1893-4), MA (1897), and MD (1910). He was a physician at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lon ...

and was made a Fellow of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Tuckett worked as an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

and on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

. He held an interest in

yacht racing Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or ...

. From 1896 to 1910 Tuckett was an active researcher and published many papers in the '' Journal of Physiology''. He wrote an important paper on the structure of non-meduallated nerve fibres. He was elected a member of The Physiological Society in 1896. He married Anna Marie Christine Wickman on 6 April 1899.

Skepticism

Tuckett became known as an exposer of the false claims of

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

s. He is best known for his book ''The Evidence for the Supernatural: A Critical Study Made with "Uncommon Sense"'' (1911). The book exposed the tricks of fraudulent mediums and is a criticism of the claims of psychical research. It received a positive review in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

''. It was also positively reviewed in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles ...

'' which concluded "It is decidedly a book to be read by all who are interested in human psychology; and every practitioner of medicine ought to place himself in this category." Psychologist

Joseph Jastrow Joseph Jastrow (January 30, 1863 – January 8, 1944) was a Polish-born American psychologist, noted for inventions in experimental psychology, design of experiments, and psychophysics. He also worked on the phenomena of optical illusions, a ...

highly recommended the book in a detailed review for ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

''. He described it as "thorough in execution, so broad in treatment, so acceptable in form and content, is a cause for congratulation in the rationalistic camp." Jastrow, Joseph. (1912)
''A Rational View of the Supernatural''
''

'' 52: 461-463.

Publications

Books
''The Evidence for the Supernatural: A Critical Study Made with "Uncommon Sense"''
1911 unabridged edition with appendices A-R, 409 pages.
''Mysticism and the Way Out''
(1920) Papers *Tuckett, Ivor Lloyd. (1912-1913). ''Psychical Researchers and "the Will to Believe"''. ''Bedrock'' 1: 180–204. *Tuckett, Ivor Lloyd. (1912-1913). ''The Illogical Position of Some Psychical Researchers''. ''Bedrock'' 1: 470–487.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuckett, Ivor Lloyd 1873 births 1942 deaths Academics of University College London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anomalistic psychology British physiologists British sceptics Critics of parapsychology Critics of Spiritualism People from Norwich