Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi is a book I learned about via another investigator of skeptical claims, Dr Richard Wiseman, who mentioned it as one of the very first books he sought out on the topic. It was published in 1980, and covers a number of popular strange beliefs and claims, such as the never-ending stories about the Bermuda Triangle, water dowsing, Cottingley Fairies and more.

I originally didn’t find this book engaging to start with, but as you continue to read, it becomes less historically-dry and certainly very useful as a teaching resource, particularly the sections on testing horoscope claims and features a very useful map on how to run a dowsing trial.

James Randi himself was responsible for demonstrating how even science labs and scientists can be fooled by magic tricks as in the case of the Project Alpha Hoax. As a reference text, Flim-Flam! is pretty much considered a classic in the field, and a great source of the kinds of claims that require a skeptical eye. 

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