> wouldn't that have thrown the cat
> amongst them...
>
Wouldn't it though? It'd be difficult to remain sceptical about it if there was a paper by Uncle Albert on the subject. Not impossible of course, just more difficult.

He did have this to say on the subject though...

"I know very well that many scientists consider dowsing as they do astrology, as a type of ancient superstition. According to my conviction this is, however, unjustified. The dowsing rod is a simple instrument which shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors which are unknown to us at this time."

To relax, he used to enjoy sailing, and one of the biographies I read told how he'd often take an hour or more to walk the short distance between his home in Princeton and the boating lake, because his dowsing rod would take him on long meandering excursions.