Edward T. Bennett

author

Edward T. Bennett

1831–1908

A Victorian botanist who later became a leading voice in psychical research, he wrote clear, accessible books about telepathy, automatic writing, and other unusual claims that fascinated readers of his time. His work sits at the meeting point of science, belief, and curiosity.

1 Audiobook

Psychic phenomena : $b a brief account of the physical manifestations observed in psychical research

Psychic phenomena : $b a brief account of the physical manifestations observed in psychical research

by Edward T. Bennett

About the author

Born in London in 1831, Edward T. Bennett was a British botanist and writer, best known in full as Edward Trusted Bennett. As a young man he collected plant specimens in places including Cornwall and the New Forest, and he came from a family with strong scientific interests; his younger brother was the botanist Alfred William Bennett.

Later in life, he became closely associated with the Society for Psychical Research, serving as its assistant secretary for many years. He wrote several works that tried to present psychical investigations in a careful, readable way, including The Society for Psychical Research, Automatic Speaking and Writing, and Psychic Phenomena.

Bennett died in 1908. Today he is remembered less as a novelist than as a thoughtful popularizer of a strange and much-debated field, someone who tried to explain extraordinary experiences to ordinary readers without losing a sense of method and evidence.