This year sees the centenary of the birth of writer, political and scientific commentator – and student of the paranormal – Arthur Koestler, and also the 20th anniversary of the Koestler Parapsychology Unit endowed by him at Edinburgh University, recently thrown into crisis by the untimely death of Koestler Professor Bob Morris.

Paul Devereux takes advantage of this confluence of commemorations to assess the current status of the field.

Arthur Koestler was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 September 1905. He studied science and psychology at the University of Vienna, but left before taking his degree. He went on to become a freelance journalist, working in Germany and France.