Helmut Schmidt: 1928-2011

Bold. Brilliant. Creative. Generous and compassionate when he nurtured budding researchers into breathtaking new frontiers. Quiet though animated when he communicated to colleagues about the mysteries of the universe and our place in it. Helmut Schmidt was a pioneer who forged new scientific territory with a sense of unlimited possibilities. Schmidt was born on February 22, 1928 in Danzig, Germany. He grew up in Germany, where he received his degrees in mathematics and physics from the Universities in Goettingen and Cologne. It was there that he met his wife, Klare, with whom he shared his life for 56 years and for whom he always exuded great affection and boundless devotion. A dynamic teacher, Schmidt taught theoretical physics at universities in Germany; Vancouver, Canada; and the United States. He settled in the US in 1965 with Klare and their three children. At this time he became a senior scientist at the Boeing Research Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. He remained there until 1969, when he committed himself full time to parapsychological research. Schmidt was one of the first physicists to apply modern technology to the study of psi phenomena. Perhaps his greatest contributions were the development of quantum-based electronic random number generators (RNG) to allow for the rigorous study of psychokinesis (mind-matter interaction), and for the development of ingenious protocols that allowed proponents and skeptics to directly collaborate in psi experiments. The quixotic physicist formally began his parapsychology career at the Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina. He served as director from 1969 to 1974. He then moved to the Mind Science Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, where he maintained a highly productive career at the research foundation from 1974 until his retirement in 1993. At that time, he moved with his wife to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he enjoyed hiking, reading, classical music, and maintaining his interest in psi research. Schmidt's early psi experiments involved machines that were based on truly random events. In studies published in the late 1960s, Schmidt explored possible precognition effects as well as psychokinesis. The device for his initial experiments was a four-button quantum mechanical random number generator (RNG) encased in a box, built by Schmidt. The random generator was made up of a radioactive source (strontium 90), a Geiger counter, and a four-step electronic switch controlling four lamps. The Gelget counter responded to ionizing particles emitted from the strontium 90 at random times. A high frequency pulse generator advanced the switch rapidly through the four positions. When a gate between the Geiger counter and the four-step switch opened, the next particle that reached the Geiger counter stopped the switch in one of its four positions and illuminated the lamp corresponding to that position. In the experiments, the participant pressed a button recording a guess on the automated testing device. The experimental volunteer, including early pilot experiments with his daughter, Karin, was instructed to press a button on the box to predict which of the four target alternatives the RNG was about to select, or to influence which light was about to be illuminated. Immediate feedback was provided to the participant when one of the four colored lamps lit up. The probability in this elegant device was 1 in 4 that the test participant would score correctly by chance alone. Schmidt reported significant success rates of 1-2% above mean chance expectation. While small in magnitude, the implications of Schmidt's work are revolutionary, suggesting a fundamental link between mind and matter. Schmidt was always guided by his training as a theoretical physicist. Building on the observer effect in quantum mechanics, Schmidt used this theory to direct his experimental research--long before the quantum realm became fashionable or trendy in popular culture. …

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