Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native France and many other countries, popularised the pursuit of cave exploration, introduced the concept of speleology as a distinct area of scientific study, maintained an extensive archive, and in 1895 founded , the first organisation devoted to cave science in the world. Édouard-Alfred Martel was born in Pontoise, Seine-et-Oise on 1 July 1859. Born into a family of lawyers, he studied at the
Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena on the paranormal which are available for members. Since 2006 the charity launched Project Albion, creating a database with the goal of recording every fortean event in the country. The Coventry Paranormal Investigators (or Midlands Ghost Research Society) is a paranormal investigation group founded in 2002 by Martin and Amanda Higginson. The group is affiliated with the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. Martin said he was inspired to start the group after seeing his grandmother's ghost when he was eight years old. They group serves the entire UK with the Higginson's frequently travelling to investigate paranormal claims.