 Six Feet Over: Science Tackles the Afterlife, by Mary Roach.
Apparently there was some trouble deciding on a title for this one. The hardcover is called Spook, and in some versions the subtitle is Adventures in the Afterlife. Roach explores various ways that people have used science to attempt to communicate with the dead or otherwise prove the existence of an afterlife. She goes with a researcher to interview children believed to be reincarnated. She takes a class for mediums, and goes with ghost hunters who try to capture mysterious sounds that occasionally resemble words. And we get a sampling of the literature on subjects like spiritualism (dead people allegedly speaking through a hypnotized medium). Roach is a skeptic, but she isn't condescending, and takes a dispassionate look at improbable experiments such as weighing a dying person to determine the weight of the soul. Using radios and tape recorders to talk to the dead sounds ridiculous now, but she notes that the idea arose when telephones and electrical devices were new and must have seemed equally miraculous. In the end, Roach observes, matters of faith are not provable and it's a question of what you choose to believe. Her writing style is lively and engaging, and the footnotes are frequently the most entertaining part. Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that doesn't fit any of the other prompts. 52 Book Club: 3-syllable word in the title. Booklist Queen Challenge: Discussion-worthy read (because my book club is discussing it). This Challenge Killed the Bookworm: Working in STEM.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |