James Randi is a professional magician (The Amazing Randi), author, lecturer, amateur archaeologist and amateur astronomer. Born in 1928 in Toronto, Canada, he received his education there. He was naturalized a U S. citizen in 1987, and now lives in Florida with an old red cat named Charles, several untalented parrots, numerous other unnamed creatures and the occasional visiting magus. He is understandably single.
Mr. Randi has written eleven books. They are:
The Truth about Uri Geller (Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY/82) (formerly The Magic of Uri Geller by Ballantine/75). Also published in the Peoples Republic of China.
Houdini: His Life & Art (Grossett & Dunlap, New York/78, coauthored).
Flim-Flam! - The Truth about Unicorns, Parapsychology & Other Delusions (Harper & Row, NYC/80, paperback by Prometheus, NY/82). Norwegian edition 1994 ("Juks og Bedrag!") and Spanish edition 1994 ("Fraudes Paranormales").
Test Your ESP Potential (Dover/83).
The Faith Healers (Hardcover 1987, paperback 1989, by Prometheus, NY).
The Magic World of the Amazing Randi (Bob Adams Pub., Boston/89). Spanish edition, Mexico.
The Mask of Nostradamus (Charles Scribner's, NY/90). Paperback by Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY. French edition by Editions Griot, 1994, "Le Vrai Visage de Nostradamus."
James Randi: Psychic Investigator (Boxtree, London/91).
Conjuring (St. Martin's Press, NY/1992) Soft-cover edition by Quality Paperbacks. Korean edition, July 1994.
An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995 from St. Martin's Press, NY). UK edition by Headline, London.
Mr. Randi has had his own TV Specials in Italy, England, Belgium, Hungary, Canada, Japan, Australia and the USA. He has appeared in a great many TV documentaries, interview shows and variety productions in France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the UK and other countries. He appears frequently on US television shows. He has done three world tours as a performer and lecturer through the Far East, Europe, Australia and North and South America.
In 1974 he performed at the White House. He spends much of his time traveling between performances and lectures all over the globe. A Granada TV series, "James Randi: Psychic Investigator" was shown in the UK in 1991. It dealt with testing of individuals who claim to have paranormal, supernatural or occult powers of various kinds.
James Randi is a founding fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) based in Buffalo, NY. This is an organization of academics and other experts devoted to the examination of paranormal, occult and supernatural claims. It is non-profit and serves the media, other scientific groups, and the public as an information source. Their journal is the "Skeptical Inquirer," which reaches 40,000 subscribers. He also writes a column, "'Twas Brillig," for "The Skeptic," the journal of the Skeptic's Society.
Mr. Randi's writings (articles, essays, stories, book reviews) have appeared in many periodicals internationally. His articles are frequently picked up and translated for use in foreign popular and scientific periodicals.
MAJOR AWARDS AND HONORS RELATED TO MAGIC
1977: James Randi was nominated as "Visiting Magician of the Year" by the Academy of Magical Arts & Sciences.
1983: He received the Blackstone Cup of the International Platform Association as Outstanding Speaker in his category for his lecture, "Science & the Chimera," and became the only second-time recipient of this award in 1987.
1986: Mr. Randi was made a Fellow of the prestigious John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, an honor awarded him for his work in investigating claims of supernatural, occult and paranormal powers, in particular his exposures of the TV evangelists and "psychics." He received a grant of $272,000 to assist him in these continuing endeavors.
Also in 1986, The Israeli Society for Promoting the Art of Magic conferred membership on James Randi, and Assembly 22 of the Society of American Magicians gave him their Award of Merit "in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the Art of Magic and for exemplary promotion and defense of the Art of Magic."
1987: The Academy of Magical Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles created a Special Fellowship for James Randi in recognition of his contributions to preservation of "the art of conjuring as a form of entertainment, as opposed to the use of deception for purposes of fraud."
Also in 1987, Ring 254 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians gave him their Certificate of Appreciation "for increasing community awareness of Magic's contribution to society as exemplified in recognition by the MacArthur Foundation."
In 1988, James Randi was appointed to the Hall of Fame of the Society of American Magicians (SAM). He was named an International Ambassador of Magic for the SAM, reporting to the Society from all over the world on developments in techniques and new talent discoveries.
On October 19, 1993, the PBS-TV "NOVA" program broadcast a one-hour special titled "Secrets of the Psychics" dealing with Mr. Randi's life work, particularly with his investigations of Uri Geller and various healing claims being made by scientists in Russia. This program has been repeated on PBS several times since.
THE ONGOING PRIZE
For more than 25 years, Mr. Randi's prize of $10,000 for "the performance of any paranormal, occult or supernatural event, under proper observing conditions" has gone unclaimed. A syndicated television special for Lexington Broadcasting titled, "Exploring Psychic Powers-Live," was broadcast June 7, 1989, and seen all over the USA, in Italy (with simultaneous translation) and in Australia. The $10,000 prize was temporarily increased to $100,000 for this occasion. The two hour program was also seen later in Scandinavia, Japan, France, England and Germany. Mr. Uri Geller, invited to the program, declined to be tested by the scientists present.
See the "Profile" in Time magazine, June 13, 1988. More can be found in most biographical listings, including the current Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in the East, and the Cambridge Men of Achievement.
― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 1 July 2004 19:08 (nineteen years ago) link
'("$Id$")
;;; * WHMATCH.LSP
;;; Based on Winston/Horn (MATCH) from "Lisp"
;;;; This software is licensed by Patrick H. Winston and Berthold K. P. Horn
;;;; (licensors) for instructional use with the textbooks ``Lisp,'' by Patrick
;;;; H. Winston and Berthold K. P. Horn, and ``Artificial Intelligence,'' by
;;;; Patrick H. Winston. Your are free to make copies of this software and
;;;; modify it for such instructional use as long as:
;;;; 1. You keep this notice intact.
;;;; 2. You cause any modified files to carry a prominent notice stating
;;;; that you modified the files and the date of your modifications.
;;;; This software is licensed ``AS IS'' without warranty and the licensor
;;;; shall have no liability for any alleged defect or damages.
;;;; ----------------------------------------------------------------------
;;;; Converted April 1997 by Reini URBAN to AutoLisp.
;;;;
http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/lisp/whmatch.lsp;;;; 24/08/98 - fixed all errors by Serge Pashkov (PSW)
;;;;
;;;; Extended match example.
;;;; Supports: ? + * (< x) (? x) (+ x) (> x) (* x) (RESTRICTION ? x)
;;;; Highly recommended to read the book to understand its strength.
;;;; ----------------------------------------------------------------------
;;; (WHMATCH pattern expr) - list matching (=> Winston/Horn "Lisp")
;;; Supports:
;;; ? * + (> x) (? x) (< x) (+ x) (* x) (RESTRICTION ? predicate)
;;; returns NIL if no match, else the actual binding or T
;;; (? x) == (> x)
;;;
;;; Pattern variables:
;;; ? - any symbol
;;; + - any not-empty sequence of symbols (one or more)
;;; * - any sequence of symbols (null or more)
;;;
;;; (pattern-indicator pattern-variable) - bounds a symbol to the found pattern
;;; (> x) - as (? x)
;;; (? x) - bounds x to the matched symbol
;;; (< x) - matches the previous matched x
;;; (+ x) - bounds x to the matched not-empty sequence
;;; (* x) - bounds x to the matched sequence
;;;
;;; (RESTRICTION pattern-indicator predicate)
;;; (RESTRICTION ? predicate) - if the predicate applies to the symbol
;;; (RESTRICTION + predicate) - if the predicate applies to the not-empty sequence
;;; (not yet implemented)
;;; (RESTRICTION * predicate) - if the predicate applies to the sequence
;;; (not yet implemented)
;;;History:
;;; 29/04/97 - Reini Urban, first version
;;; converted from lisp to AutoLISP
;;; this had errors with *, (+ x), (* x) and RESTRICTION
;;; 24/08/98 - fixed all errors by Serge Pashkov (PSW)
;;; no errors anymore
;;; Samples:
;|
(whmatch '(color (? x) (? y))
'(color apple red))
=> ((X apple)(Y red))
(whmatch '((> x) + (< x))
'(color apple red color))
=> ((X color))
(whmatch '((> x) (+ y) (< x))
'(color apple red color))
=> ((X color)(y apple red)
(whmatch '((> x) + (< x))
'(abc is the same as abc))
=> ((X ABC))
(whmatch '((+ x) (RESTRICTION ? numberp) +)
'(abc is the number 1 or not ?))
=> ((X ABC IS THE NUMBER))
(whmatch '((* x) abc +)
'(abc is which ?))
=> T
(whmatch '((* x) 1 (+ y))
'(abc is the number 1 or what is which ?))
=> ((X ABC IS THE NUMBER) (Y OR WHAT IS WHICH ?))
(whmatch '((* x) ? (+ y))
'(abc is which ?))
=> ((Y IS WHICH ?)) ;because ? matches abc not the last question mark
(whmatch '((* x) which (* y))
'(abc is which))
=> (X ABS IS)
(whmatch '((+ x) (RESTRICTION ? numberp) (+ y))
'(abc is the number 1 or not ?))
=> ((X ABC IS THE NUMBER)(Y OR NOT ?))
|;
;;; AutoLISP 'or' workaround. need the value, not just T or nil
;;; Anyway: you can safely replace every 'or' with 'cond' and
;;; enclose the arguments in double brackets as done here in this code
;|
(defun or2 (a b) ;instead of (or a b)
(cond ((a))
((b))))
(defun or3 (a b c) ;instead of (or a b c)
(cond ((a))
((b))
((c))))
|;
;;; helper funcs:
;;; better seperate data-functions from the program code
;;; easier to change the data-structures and pattern-syntax afterwards
(defun add-value (variable value bindings)
(append bindings (list (list variable value))))
(defun find-value (variable bindings)
(cadr (assoc variable bindings)))
;;; X ABC nil => (X ABC)
;;; X IS (X ABC) => (X ABC IS)
(defun add-list (variable datum bindings)
(cond ((null bindings) (list (list variable datum)))
((equal variable (caar bindings))
(cons (cons variable (append (cdar bindings) (list datum)))
(cdr bindings)))
(T (cons (car bindings)
(add-list variable datum (cdr bindings))))))
(defun pattern-ind (p)
(car p))
(defun pattern-var (p)
(cadr p))
;;; special case for + variable, extra function because of the lack of let in AutoLISP
(defun whmatch-+ (p d bindings / new-values)
(setq new-values (add-list (pattern-var (car p))
(car d)
bindings))
(cond ((whmatch-hlp (cdr p) (cdr d) new-values)) ;should be 'or' but AutoLISP is different...
((whmatch-hlp p (cdr d) new-values))))
(defun restriction-ind (pattern-element)
(cadr pattern-element))
(defun restriction-pred (pattern-element)
(cddr pattern-element))
(defun restriction-test (pred args)
(cond ((null pred) t)
((apply (car pred) (list args))
(restriction-test (cdr pred) args))
(T nil)))
;;; workaround for the lack of &optional arguments
;;; called from in-between
(defun whmatch-hlp (p d bindings)
(cond
((and (null p)(null d)) ;success
(cond ((null bindings) T)
(T bindings)))
;;; ((or (null p)(null d)) nil) ;failed
;; PSW 24/08/98. Previous line is wrong for patterns * or (* x)
;; We need to make separate checks.
((or (eq (car p) '?) ;? pattern
(equal (car p)(car d))) ;or same
(whmatch-hlp (cdr p)(cdr d) bindings))
((eq (car p) '+) ;+ pattern, one or more
(cond ((whmatch-hlp (cdr p) (cdr d) bindings)) ;found
((whmatch-hlp p (cdr d) bindings)))) ;or try next
((eq (car p) '*) ;* pattern, null or more
(cond ((whmatch-hlp (cdr p) d bindings)) ;none
((whmatch-hlp (cdr p) (cdr d) bindings)) ;or like +
((whmatch-hlp p (cdr d) bindings))))
((atom (car p)) nil)
((or (eq (pattern-ind (car p)) '>) ;> Var.
(eq (pattern-ind (car p)) '?))
(whmatch-hlp (cdr p) (cdr d)
(add-value (pattern-var (car p))
(car d)
bindings)))
((eq (pattern-ind (car p)) '