Do You See What I See

Russll Targ's story is an idiosyncratic journey through the highways and byways of intellectual, scientific and cultural life in 20th century. His father (the long-time editor-in-chief at Putnam) acquired The Godfather on the basis of an outline scribbled on the back of a napkin. His mother was the first press agent of the fan dancer Sally Rand. His step-mother is the legendary literary agent Rosalind Targ. He was married for thirty years to the sister of the infamous chess master Bobby Fischer. He briefly dated Henny Youngman's cousin. He attended college with Alan Alda's wife, Arlene. He was part of Ayn Rand's study group in the 1950s - along with economist Alan Greenspan. He was a pioneer in laser research. He spent many years developing air-borne laser wind sensors for Lockheed and NASA. He co-founded the Stanford Research Institute remote viewing programme - which was funded by the CIA - and was instrumental in tracking Soviet and Chinese weapon installations during the Cold War. And, he is a legally blind motorcyclist - who happens to be a Buddhist. This is a fascinating memoir by a first-class intellect; the story of a physicist who has pushed the boundaries of science to explore the realms of parapsychology, spirituality and the unexplained.