The 21 grams experiment that tried to weigh a human soul

The 21 grams experiment that tried to weigh a human soul

It’s a little complicated to weigh a dying person on a hospital bed, but that didn’t matter to Duncan MacDougall. In the early 20th century, MacDougall’s unique, purpose-built scale was ready to receive test subjects. One of the first, a tuberculosis patient described by The New York Times as an ordinary man with a “usual American temperament” was placed on the bed as he neared death. With MacDougall and doctors watching over, the man died, and …