Divinity Atlas
Things this atlas does not know. Each entry is a question that specialists
have posed and not settled, recorded with what would actually resolve it and which
expertise the answer needs.
These are kept deliberately, rather than quietly omitted. An atlas that shows
only what it is sure of implies a confidence it has not earned, and the gaps are often where
the interesting work is. Several sit exactly where two fields fail to meet: identifying the
hyssop of the Hebrew Bible needs a botanist and a philologist of Biblical Hebrew, and neither
one settles it alone.
You can send evidence on some of these. A pilot is open on 55 questions in one field, Palaeography. Each says what would resolve it; send something that meets that bar, with a source anybody can check, and an editor will weigh it. Sending evidence does not guarantee the question will be resolved, and it does not have to be your field to read what is being asked. See what is open.
Grouped by the field an answer needs. A question sitting between two disciplines appears under both, which is why the group counts add up to more than the number of questions.
Filter By Specialty 99 fields, 1 selected
Showing 3 of 608 questions, filtered to 1 specialty.
Archival Research 3
The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?
Open The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Why It Is Open 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 Settle It 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.
Expertise Needed History of science; architectural history; archival research at Duke University
Question posed in
ESP: A Scientific Evaluation, C. E. M. Hansel.
William Crookes
Did William Crookes's sittings with the medium Florence Cook involve collusion or a personal relationship?
Open William Crookes
Why It Is Open Writers since the 1960s have argued that Crookes either knew the materialisations were produced by Cook herself or was personally involved with her, and that this explains his willingness to vouch for phenomena he would have tested rigorously in any other setting. The arguments rest on circumstantial reading of his published accounts and on later recollection, and no documentary proof has been produced in either direction.
What Would Settle It Contemporary correspondence between Crookes and Cook, or household records establishing the arrangements at the sittings, if any survive in family or institutional archives.
Expertise Needed History of Victorian science; archival research
Question posed in
The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Ruth Brandon.
Frank Podmore
How did Frank Podmore come to be in the pond near Malvern where he drowned in August 1910, and was his death an accident, a suicide, or something else?
Open Frank Podmore
Why It Is Open The 1910 inquest could not establish how Podmore entered the water and returned no verdict of intent. Suggestions of suicide, tied to the risk of a scandal over his private life, have circulated since among historians of the Society for Psychical Research but have never been substantiated, and no further inquiry has been undertaken.
What Would Settle It A search of the original coroner's inquest papers and the Malvern and Worcestershire newspaper coverage of August 1910, which may hold testimony not yet examined by SPR historians.
Expertise Needed Archival research, history of science
Question posed in
The Founders of Psychical Research, Alan Gauld.
History of Science 3
The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?
Open The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Why It Is Open 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 Settle It 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.
Expertise Needed History of science; architectural history; archival research at Duke University
Question posed in
ESP: A Scientific Evaluation, C. E. M. Hansel.
William Crookes
Did William Crookes's sittings with the medium Florence Cook involve collusion or a personal relationship?
Open William Crookes
Why It Is Open Writers since the 1960s have argued that Crookes either knew the materialisations were produced by Cook herself or was personally involved with her, and that this explains his willingness to vouch for phenomena he would have tested rigorously in any other setting. The arguments rest on circumstantial reading of his published accounts and on later recollection, and no documentary proof has been produced in either direction.
What Would Settle It Contemporary correspondence between Crookes and Cook, or household records establishing the arrangements at the sittings, if any survive in family or institutional archives.
Expertise Needed History of Victorian science; archival research
Question posed in
The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Ruth Brandon.
Frank Podmore
How did Frank Podmore come to be in the pond near Malvern where he drowned in August 1910, and was his death an accident, a suicide, or something else?
Open Frank Podmore
Why It Is Open The 1910 inquest could not establish how Podmore entered the water and returned no verdict of intent. Suggestions of suicide, tied to the risk of a scandal over his private life, have circulated since among historians of the Society for Psychical Research but have never been substantiated, and no further inquiry has been undertaken.
What Would Settle It A search of the original coroner's inquest papers and the Malvern and Worcestershire newspaper coverage of August 1910, which may hold testimony not yet examined by SPR historians.
Expertise Needed Archival research, history of science
Question posed in
The Founders of Psychical Research, Alan Gauld.
Architectural History 1
The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Did the physical layout of the Duke buildings permit Hubert Pearce to observe the target cards during the Pearce-Pratt distance series?
Open The Pearce-Pratt Distance Series
Why It Is Open 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 Settle It 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.
Expertise Needed History of science; architectural history; archival research at Duke University
Question posed in
ESP: A Scientific Evaluation, C. E. M. Hansel.