Olivier Costa de Beauregard

Olivier Costa de Beauregard(6 November 1911 - 5 February 2007) was a Frenchengineer,physicistandphilosopher. He spent much of his career studyingquantum physicsandrelativity. From the early 1950s, he also wrote extensively about his belief inparapsychology.
He was born inParis, the first of two boys to Geneviève (née Imbert de Balorre, aBourbonfamily) and Bérold Costa de Beauregard, part of the wealthy, establishedCosta de Beauregard familywhich originated fromSavoie. His younger brother was Roland Costa de Beauregard (5 August 1913 - 11 November 2002), who became a notable leader of theFrench Resistanceand later aFrench Armygeneral.Olivier Costa de Beauregard received a home education from his father, nurses, clergy and others before attendingSainte-Croix de Neuillyschool. His father died when he was fifteen. He gained a place at university but took sabbaticals for sport and reading first. He gained his degree in Physics in 1938 and did national service as an artillery lieutenant.
In 1938, he became a research engineer atSociété nationale de constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est (SNCASE)[National Society for Aeronautical Construction of the South-East]. At the onset ofWorld War II, he was mobilised in his national service rank. After theFranco-Germanarmistice in June 1940, he joined the theoretical physics department of theInstitut Henri Poincaré, part of theCentre national de la recherche scientifique(CNRS)[National Centre of Scientific Research]. He completed his PhD in 1943, his thesis entitledContribution à l'étude de la théorie de l'électron de Dirac[Contribution to the study of Dirac's electron theory].Louis de Brogliewas his thesis advisor; he was part of de Broglie's team working onrelativityandquantum mechanics.
From 1947, he proposed to de Broglie his interpretation of theEPR paradox, questioning the interpretation of time, a central theme of his career. In 1950, he married Nicole de Peyronnet, his life partner. He joined theInstitute for Advanced Studiesin 1951 where he became acquainted withAlbert Einstein. During the 1950s, his and de Broglie's different approaches to physics meant that they parted ways. He became director of research atCNRSin 1971 and remained so until he retired in 1980. He published a number of articles continuing his interest in Dirac's work on the electron, theDe Broglie–Bohm theory, relativity and quantum physics, inertial spin and theImbert–Fedorov effectfollowing work by his colleaguefr:Christian ImbertatL'Institute d'Optique.
Costa de Beauregard retained a deep faith in theRoman Catholicismof his upbringing. He referred to "paranormal abilities" of St.Don Bosco, St.John of the Cross, St.Teresa of Ávilaand other mystics from history. He believed in the concept ofmind over matter. In the same vein, he wrote frequently on the ramifications of the EPR paradox, athought experimentwhich the authors tried to demonstrate that thequantum-mechanicaldescription ofNaturewas incomplete, that unknown localised "hidden variables" had an effect. Further thought experiments by others includingDavid Bohmand especiallyJohn Bellled to contradictory results from laboratory experiments.Alain Aspect, a young French researcher, sought a topic to gain hisdoctorat d'état. He visited Christian Imbert at theInstitut d'Optique, who discussed it with Costa de Beauregard andBernard d'Espagnat, before giving Aspect a bibliography related to Bell's inequalities. Between 1981 and 1982, Aspect demonstrated convincingly that quantum mechanics violatesBell's inequalities, a validation of the theory indicating that if hidden variables do exist then they are non-local.
Costa de Beauregard interpreted the result as further supporting his belief, that particles insuperpositionwere travelling in different directions in time, two different events connected in the past so that retrogade causality is a solution. He stated that if all physical laws are symmetrical in time then its perceived "arrow", with an increase in disorder associated with thesecond law of thermodynamics, was as a result of specific inter-related conditions for all observed results. He extrapolated this to justify phenomena such asprecognition,telepathy,psychokinesisandteleportation, all of which he had previously been opposed to. He became a member of theFondation Marcel et Monique Odier de Psycho-Physiquewhich merged with theInstitut suisse des sciences noétiques. He speculated on other phenomena such as a biological effect at the sub-atomic level - originally proposed byCorentin Kervran- concerning birds nesting ongraniteobtainingcalciumfor egg shells from the transmutation ofpotassiuminmicainto calcium through theweak interaction[Kervran was posthumously awarded anIg Nobelfor the paper].
Thecolliquium of Cordoba, which Costa de Beauregard attended in 1979, resulted in lively exchanges with French scientific colleagues. The same year, physicistJohn Wheeler, irritated at parapsychologists referencing his research papers, called parapsychology "a pretentiouspseudo science" and "nonsense" but failed to get theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Scienceto end their affiliation with theParapsychological Association.Fedor Fedorov, discoverer of the effect Costa de Beauregard had written articles on, had similar views to Wheeler about parapsychology. Costa de Beauregard responded to Wheeler in a letter toThe New York Review of Bookswhich included three other physicists includingNobel Prize-winnerBrian Josephsonas a co-signatories. In it, he mentionedJohn Hasted's claim about children bending and stretching metal remotely, the French magicianJean Pierre Girard's 'hardening' of aluminium bars through mind control, the remote biasing of random number generators andremote viewing. In a follow-up reply, each example was dismissed by philosopher and science writerMartin Gardner, who described the physicists' faith in Girard as a 'French medium' as "almost beyond belief". Costa de Beauregard's close friendGeorges Lochakwrote after his death that he was not intimidated by his detractors nor scared of the loneliness and blacklisting.
He died in February 2007, having survived a cerebral embolism and two weeks after announcing he was considering giving up studying Physics.