Open Questions

Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-the-physical-layout-of-the-duke-buildings-permit-hubert-pearce-to-observe-the-target-cards-during-the-pearce-pratt-distance-series.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-the-physical-layout-of-the-duke-buildings-permit-hubert-pearce-to-observe-the-target-cards-during-the-pearce-pratt-distance-series

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-did-the-physical-layout-of-the-duke-buil,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-the-physical-layout-of-the-duke-buildings-permit-hubert-pearce-to-observe-the-target-cards-during-the-pearce-pratt-distance-series},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Open Question

C. E. M. Hansel examined the buildings in the 1960s and argued that a route existed by which the subject, unobserved in the library, could have reached a position from which the cards were visible. Rhine and Pratt disputed the sightlines, the timing, and whether such an absence would have gone unnoticed. Neither side conceded, and the buildings have since been altered, so the question can no longer be settled by inspection.

What would resolve this Original architectural plans of the Social Sciences building and the campus library as they stood in 1933 and 1934, together with any contemporaneous record of Pearce's whereabouts during the sessions.

OpenHistory of science; architectural history; archival research at Duke UniversityC. E. M. Hansel, ESP: A Scientific Evaluation

Cross-Tradition Connections