About the author
Robert G. Jahn was an aerospace engineer and professor at Princeton University, where he founded and directed the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory. With his longtime research partner Brenda Dunne, he conducted controlled experiments examining whether human consciousness could influence the output of random physical systems, work summarized in Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World. First published in 1987 and reissued in later editions, the book presents PEAR's data and argues that mainstream science has excluded consciousness from its models of physical reality by methodological choice rather than necessity. The work was contested from the outset, drawing sustained criticism from physicists and psychologists over its statistical methods and conclusions, and it remains a reference point in debates over parapsychology's scientific standing. Jahn's background as an engineer, rather than a psychologist, shaped the experimental and quantitative approach the book is known for.
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💬 What our editors say about Robert G Jahn's books
“This text is not for the faint of heart or the strictly materialist. Readers who demand conventional, reductionist scientific explanations will likely find its conclusions offensive or unscientific. It requires an open mind…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World
“This volume presents a compelling, albeit dense, argument for consciousness as a fundamental variable in physics. While its reliance on specific experimental data from the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research program provides…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World
