Charles Fort était un écrivain et chercheur néerlandais-américain de phénomènes anormaux, essentiellement un satiriste profondément sceptique quant aux affirmations de connaissance ultime, en particulier de la part des scientifiques. Son style d'écriture distinctif mêlait humour moqueur et perspicacité pénétrante avec une audace calculée. Le travail de Fort explorait souvent l'idée que ceux qui ont un besoin psychologique de croire aux merveilles ne sont pas plus préjugés que ceux qui ont un besoin psychologique de ne pas y croire, soulignant comment les hypothèses inconscientes peuvent entraver la véritable objectivité. Son influence perdure encore aujourd'hui, ses idées caractérisant divers phénomènes anormaux.
Exploring the bizarre and unexplained, the author delves into phenomena often overlooked by mainstream science. Readers will encounter tales of aliens, monsters, and strange occurrences, such as frogs raining from the sky and inexplicable disappearances. Presented in an accessible format, this special edition revitalizes Fort's pioneering work, inviting modern audiences to ponder the mysteries of the universe and the extraordinary events that challenge our understanding of reality.
Charles Hoy Fort (1874-1932) was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "Essentially a satirist hugely skeptical of human beings' -- especially scientists' claims to ultimate knowledge." Clark describes Fort's writing style as a "distinctive blend of mocking humor, penetrating insight, and calculated outrageousness." Writer Colin Wilson describes Fort as "a kind of patron saint of cranks" and also argues that running through Fort's work is "the feeling that no matter how honest scientists think they are, they are still influenced by various unconscious assumptions that prevent them from attaining true objectivity. Today, the term Fortean or Forteana is used to describe various anomalous phenomena.