Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
A term used in parapsychology to denote awareness apparently
received through channels other than the usual senses.
The term was launched by J. B. Rhine in his book Extrasensory
Perception (1934), published by the Boston Society for Psychic
Research. The book attracted the interest of the science editor
of the New York Times, who wrote a favorable notice. After that,
public interest was aroused and the term extrasensory perception,
or ESP, was firmly established. Phenomena related to ESP
include clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. Prior to
Rhines popularization of the term, a German equivalent,
außersinnliche Wahrnehmung, had been used by Gustav Pagenstecher
and Rudolf Tishner in the 1920s.
