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Charles Fort and the Forteans

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Pseudoscience and Science Fiction

Part of the book series: Science and Fiction ((SCIFICT))

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Abstract

Characterized by science fiction author Damon Knight as the “Prophet of the Unexplained”, Charles Fort was the first person to make a systematic study of anomalous phenomena. During the 1920s and early 30s, Fort collected masses of data that he believed had been deliberately excluded—or “damned”, to use his own word—by the scientific establishment. This was the very period when science fiction was emerging as a distinct genre in the pulp magazines, and Fort’s ideas were every bit as “amazing” and “astounding” as anything those magazines had to offer. As a result, he became required reading—and essential source material—for a generation of SF authors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crewkerne, UK

    Andrew May

Authors
  1. Andrew May
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May, A. (2017). Charles Fort and the Forteans. In: Pseudoscience and Science Fiction. Science and Fiction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42605-1_1

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