Bagnall, (Reginald) Oscar (Gartside) (b. 1893)

British pioneer of aura research. Born March 28, 1893, in Berkshire, England, he was educated at Malvern and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read natural sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics) and took his degree in science. After the outbreak of World War I, he left Magdalene to take a commission but was released from active service due to an injury. He returned to Magdalene for advanced studies, working as a schoolmaster and coaching young students for medical examinations.

While a professional biologist, he researched color, as a result of which he became interested in the phenomenon of human radiations. He experimented with dye screens in relation to the mechanics of human vision and in particular the effects of dicyanin, which had been studied by pioneer Walter J. Kilner, author of the book The Human Atmosphere; or, The Aura Made Visible by the Aid of Chemical Screens (1911).

Bagnall's own valuable book, The Origin and Properties of the Human Aura (1937), is also a major study of the subject and validates many of Kilner's findings. Both Kilner and Bagnall brought the phenomena, formerly limited to study by psychics and occultists, onto firmer scientific ground. Since then, modern interest in aura research has been stimulated by the discovery of the Kirlian aura.

Sources:

Bagnall, Oscar. The Origin and Properties of the Human Aura. 1937. Rev. ed. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1970.