Seven Experiments That Could Change the World: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science

Sheldrake, Rupert

ISBN 10: 1857021673 / ISBN 13: 9781857021677

Published by Fourth Estate, London, 1994

About this Item

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake here proposes seven fascinating experiments that could transform our view of reality. They would take us far beyond the current frontiers of research and reveal much more of the world than science has yet dared to conceive. Anyone of them, if successful, would open up bewildering new vistas. Taken together they could revolutionise our understanding of nature and ourselves. This research could help to explain many hitherto mysterious natural phenomena, such as the migration of birds across thousands of miles to countries they've never seen, the baroque complexity of the termites' nest, or the intuition our pets seem to have when we're on our way home. It could also shed light on some of our own unexplained capacities, for example the sense we have of being stared at, or the phantom limb of the amputee. Now Rupert Sheldrake has developed simple experiments through which such phenomena can be rigorously tested. Though fully scientific in conception and method, each of these experiments costs little or nothing to conduct, and has been carefully designed to be carried out by non-professionals. This intriguing book is not only about a more open kind of science, but about a more open way of doing science: more public, more participatory, less the monopoly of a scientific priesthood. It focuses attention on areas of research neglected as a result of conventional habits of thought with extraordinary opportunities for breakthroughs worthy of the name. Readers of this book will find themselves on a journey of discovery that will continue long after they put it down. This is not just a book, but is also a broad-based research programme with an open invitation to participate. It is in itself an ambitious and unprecedented experiment in scientific enquiry. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. xi + 269. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact. Dust Jacket un-clipped. Gilt titles spine. illustrated by b/w. drawings, diagrams, charts & b/w, photo's. Includes notes, bibliography & index. . Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Natural History & Resources; Biology; Animals & Birds; Intuition; Psychology & Psychiatry. ISBN: 1857021673. ISBN/EAN: 9781857021677. Inventory No: 5213. Hardcover (Original Black Cloth).

Seller Inventory # 5213

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Seven Experiments That Could Change the World: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science
• Publisher: Fourth Estate, London
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1857021673
• ISBN 13: 9781857021677
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Natural History & Resources

About this title

Synopsis

Seven experiments are proposed in this book that the author believes, if any are successful, will alter how the reader perceives the world. The purpose of the book is to draw attention to areas of research neglected as a result of conventional habits of thought. The descriptions of the experiments are intended to focus the topics under discussion. One of the experiments in the book aims to test the hypothesis that many dogs and cats know that their owners are coming home before they actually arrive. Rupert Sheldrake has also written "The Presence of the Past" and "The Rebirth of Nature".

Review

I consider myself an open-minded person, but I tend to become itchy and skeptical when I encounter most books about the "unexplained"--there are just too many secret Soviet laboratories, mysterious disappearances (of the phenomena, and the investigators and data for that matter). And, I must admit, I've was somewhat skeptical of Sheldrake's previous books on "morphic resonance".

But being an open-minded person, I am glad when I can change my mind, and I am glad to report that this is a worthy book--because of its practicality. Sheldrake confronts some of the outstanding questions facing "PSIence"--and proposes level-headed experiments that readers themselves can become engaged in. Science has often made its greatest advances not when areas of the unknown were summarily dismissed--but when a proper balance between paradigm shifts and experimentation fell into place. It is conceivable that books such as this may help with the evolution of PSI to science.