Charles Fort's classic recording of unexplained, paranormal events and phenomena offer fascinating insights into bizarre occurrences the author felt had been unjustly damned from formal, scientific study. The title derives from the author's perception that the book's subjects were so stigmatized and excluded from ordinary scientific inquiry that they had become 'damned'. Perhaps permanently forbade for formal study, the oddities and unexplained events in this text were felt worthy of attention by the author, who eventually became an authority on anomalous phenomena. The topics in Fort's thesis include unexplained disappearances of large groups of people, frogs and fish suddenly raining from the sky, the possibility that mythical beasts such as giants exist, UFOs manifest as glowing and sometimes moving lights in the sky, and bizarre weather phenomena. Fort attributes credence to many of these oddities, and argues that science - by dismissing them - has become a religion in itself.

Rudolf Steiner's superb thesis provides deep insight into spiritual science, and the history of mankind as viewed through the philosophy of the anthroposophy movement he founded. An Outline of Esoteric Science attempts to reconcile mankind's spiritual being with the scientific exactitude which had emerged among scholars in the 19th century. Steiner lays out the spiritual realms which are invisible to us, attempting to use a defined precision similar to that which had emerged in science. In the final section, this book refers to the spiritual development and contemplation necessary for individuals to see the spiritual realms and planes which comprise existence and the universe. The means by which individuals may train themselves introspectively to see are detailed by Steiner, whose theosophical philosophy was, by the time of this book's publication in 1909, well-developed.

Cotton Mather chronicles the Salem witch trials which took place in New England in the late 18th century. Together with the trials, this book holds detailed accounts of devilish phenomena Mather believed were linked to the discovery of the local witches. Mather discusses a range of spiritual phenomena reported by various figures in the fledgling society of New England. Sudden apparitions, visions, and other strange goings on which she believed were linked to the frequent finding of witches are cataloged. The bulk of the text however is concerned with the trials of many witches, the causes of their accusations, and the circumstances under which they were tried. Mather's book is today one of the best and most complete primary narratives of what came to be known as the Salem witch trials; with accounts of witnesses, judges, and evidence put forward all present. Furthermore, Mather's book was published in 1693, shortly after the trials were concluded.