Beyond the Quantum: A Journey to God and Reality in the New Scientific Revolution

A respected physicist speculates that the subatomic world only makes sense if we assume the existence of dimensions as yet undiscovered. A Cambridge biologist proposes that a ghostly energy field, able to communicate across time and space, influences human intelligence and animal evolution. A neurologist working with hydrocephalic patients decides that the brain may not be in the least bit necessary to intelligence. These are examples of science at the outermost edges, where research shades into metaphysics. Talbot ( Mysticism and the New Physics here ponders many riddles: Does the mind work like a hologram? Is a vacuum actually an elaborate structure? Do souls have a physical basis? There is so much that is worthwhile and thought-provoking in this open-minded odyssey, it is unfortunate that the author spoils it by sensationalizing some findings and by neglecting to discuss notable critiques of much of the research he cites. This is a book in which Jane Roberts's spirit-guide Seth rubs elbows uneasily with astrophysicists like John Wheeler and Fred Hoyle. (January 2)