Like Sir William Crookes, Oliver
Lodge (1851-1940) was one of the leading scientists of his generation. He was a
physicist, among many other things being the first person to transmit a radio
signal (one year before Marconi did so), and received international recognition
for his work. He was awarded many honours and honorary degrees and was knighted
for his services to physics and higher education. He was a Fellow of the Royal
Society and was twice elected President of the Society for Psychical Research.
Again, like Crookes, Lodge -
although initially sceptical - recognised that there was much worth
investigating in the mass of psychic phenomena which was appearing in the
latter years of the nineteenth century. Thus in parallel with his conventional
work in physics he undertook research into mediums and mediumistic phenomena,
particularly with Mrs. Leonora Piper and Eusapia Palladino. Eventually he
became convinced of the validity of much of this psychic material and of the
reality of the survival of death. He wrote several books from 1909 onwards into
the 1930s dealing at least partially with these subjects. Some of these are as
follows:
Lodge, Sir Oliver (1909). The Survival of Man.
A study in unrecognised human faculty. Methuen & Co., London.
Lodge gives an account of many of
his investigations into matters connected with psychical research during the
previous quarter of a century. He covers work on telepathy, automatic writing,
trance speech and other instances of ‘temporary lucidity’, in which areas he considered
that the most direct evidence for survival and after-death activity would be
likely to be found. He reserved an account of his experiences with the more
controversial and "often discredited" physical phenomena for another
book. He makes it clear that, by this time, he was convinced of man’s survival
of bodily death.
Lodge, Sir Oliver (1916). Raymond or Life and Death.
Methuen, London.
The account of his son’s death in
the first World War in 1915. Lodge was already known for his work in psychical
research and belief in survival. Part One of the book documents the life of
Raymond and the events leading up to his death. Part Two documents the
successful attempts of the family to make contact with the discarnate Raymond
through mediumship. Part Three concerns Lodge’s beliefs about and philosophy of
the After-life.
A much revised and improved edition
of the original with additional material and explanations of some originally
contentious points was published in 1922. Overall much of the earlier edition
was shortened and simplified without any loss of evidential value:
Lodge, Sir Oliver (1922). Raymond Revised. A new and abbreviated edition of "Raymond or Life After Death" with an additional chapter. Methuen & Co., London.
Lodge, Sir Oliver (1931). Past Years. An autobiography.
Hodder & Stoughton, London.
A general account of his life,
family and background which only contains a relatively short account of his
work in psychical research. One chapter is given over to "The Ether
Experiments" which he states to be "...the most important series of
experiments in my life,". In the last chapter, his "Apologia pro
vita mea", he states: "My testimony, and that of others, to the
reality of a spiritual world is based upon direct experience of fact, and not
upon theory. Test the facts whatever way you choose, they can only be
accounted for by the interaction of intelligences other than our own.
Intelligences there appear to be of every grade, some of them possessing powers
unknown to us." (Emphasis added).
Lodge, Sir Oliver (1933). My Philosophy. Representing my views on the many functions of the ether of space. Ernest Benn, London.
This is a fascinating book. In it
Lodge seeks to condense a lifetime’s work at the forefront of both physical
science and psychical research and to produce a personal philosophy which
integrates the materialistic outlook of modern science with spirituality and
the traditional religious outlook of humanity. The key factor in his
philosophical approach is the ether; as he states: "The Ether of Space has
been my life study, and I have constantly urged its claims to attention."
He believed that the ether provides the link between the material universe and
the spiritual world which is demonstrated - however unclearly - by psychical
research. The importance of the ether in his life’s work is encapsulated in the
statement that: "... when in my old age I came to write
this book, I found that the Ether
pervaded all my ideas, both of this world and the next. ... and now I find it
has grown into a comprehensive statement of my philosophy." Unfortunately,
at the time of writing he had arrived at a: "... day when the universe by
some physicists seems resolved into math-ematics, and the idea of an ether is
by them considered superfluous, if not contemptible." Regrettably, this
remains the position today 68 years after Lodge wrote these words.