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Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Écrit par Mary Roach
Raconté par Bernadette Quigley
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A journey to the afterlife…
With a fair balance of a scientist’s skepticism and curiosity, Roach seeks answers to questions about the afterlife from a variety of respected and quirky sources. The answers may be no more concrete than ghosts, but they’re just as thought-provoking and fun.
Description
"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that-the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?"
In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences. Along the way, she enrolls in an English medium school, gets electromagnetically haunted at a university in Ontario, and visits a Duke University professor with a plan to weigh the consciousness of a leech. Her historical wanderings unearth soul-seeking philosophers who rummaged through cadavers and calves' heads, a North Carolina lawsuit that established legal precedence for ghosts, and the last surviving sample of "ectoplasm" in a Cambridge University archive.
Actions du livre
Commencer à écouterInformations sur le livre
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Écrit par Mary Roach
Raconté par Bernadette Quigley
Note de l'éditeur
A journey to the afterlife…
With a fair balance of a scientist’s skepticism and curiosity, Roach seeks answers to questions about the afterlife from a variety of respected and quirky sources. The answers may be no more concrete than ghosts, but they’re just as thought-provoking and fun.
Description
"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that-the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?"
In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences. Along the way, she enrolls in an English medium school, gets electromagnetically haunted at a university in Ontario, and visits a Duke University professor with a plan to weigh the consciousness of a leech. Her historical wanderings unearth soul-seeking philosophers who rummaged through cadavers and calves' heads, a North Carolina lawsuit that established legal precedence for ghosts, and the last surviving sample of "ectoplasm" in a Cambridge University archive.
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Amusing and inciteful. The author tackles reincarnation, spirit mediums, out-of-body experiences and the like. Very interesting reading.
I still can't get over the quality of Roach's writing. She takes her subject very seriously without removing the humor and mystery. If she wrote high school science textbooks, I might now understand biology, chemistry, and physics.
I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. I decided to read it because it seemed like a natural sequel to the excellent "Stiff." I feared that since the most likely results of the research in the book would be entirely negative or at best offering some narrow wiggle-room for their most optimistic interpretors. Which is exactly what the experiments produced. But Mary Roach knows how to keep her writing interesting and moving at an energetic pace despite the mundane results produced by those searching for proof that people outlast their corporal bodies. Highlights include a trip to meet a North Carolina family whose great-grandfather returned from the grave to make changes to his will, descriptions of the various contraptions invented to weigh the human (or animal) soul, scientists investigating the possibility that electro-magnetic fields and infrasound might cause feelings of being haunted, and descriptions of mediums from the spiritualism movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with their methods of producing "ectoplasm" from a variety of bodily orifices. I would definitely read more of her books.
Mary Roach reports on the state of research into the afterlife. Covers everything from the evidence for reincarnation to infrasound-produced hallucinations.
This is the third of Mary Roach's scientific exploratory books I've read and feels the weakest so far. In this book Mary tackles the idea of after-life but from a scientific angle. For me one of the issues I have with this book, and it shows in her other books, is she never really engages the people she's talking to. Sure there will be quotes and little anecdotes but never any real discussion. It always leaves me wanting to know more but then she moves on to the next subject.
The part of the book I found most interesting wasn't even about the after-life, instead it was about a handwriting analyst comparing old wills. Yeah it wasn't the most exciting of books. I was happy to see the end of it. I do have her latest book which I've heard is much better but don't expect me to pick it up in any hurry.
The part of the book I found most interesting wasn't even about the after-life, instead it was about a handwriting analyst comparing old wills. Yeah it wasn't the most exciting of books. I was happy to see the end of it. I do have her latest book which I've heard is much better but don't expect me to pick it up in any hurry.
Considering the subject matter, I wasn't expecting a definitive answer to the question of life after death, but highly anticipated another side splitting, wild ride with Ms. Roach, and was not disappointed :-) The best, and most telling, parts of this book were her insights into the researchers she researched and worked with. Her exploits in India had me hoping that chapter would never end. I was crying from laughter when I got to the part about her borrowing proper clothing from the doctor's wife. She hits all of the high points and many of the lows in her research of early spiritualism and the fascinating characters she digs up. A tiny bit slow compared to Packing for Mars and Stiff, but still a worthy read.
Oh how I wished Ms. Roach would come back with some definitive proof of the afterlife. I suppose if there were any though, I would have heard of it by now. This is an excellent look at past and current attempts to discover what happens to us after we die. Very interesting!
This was not the strongest science-based look at the afterlife one could hope for. Mary Roach is laugh out loud funny at times, but the first person immersion approach to this subject just felt really weak to me. I wanted a more skeptical outlook in a less sarcastic style. Perhaps this would be a better introductory text to folks new to afterlife experiments, but after years of listening to SGU podcasts this was just too milk toasty. I hope her next book Bonk is better and won't trigger the same level of "le sigh".
Mary Roach's books are pretty cool. I started with Packing for Mars and ended up accidentally reading them in reverse chronological order. So this is the second one she wrote.It's about what science has to say about life after death. Or, at least, it's supposed to be.It was rather disappointing in that I didn't learn very much that I didn't already know. There were fewer historical anecdotes and interesting experiments than I think appear in her other books.A lot of text was spent describing a trip to India to follow a reincarnation researcher around. Considering that it revealed and proved very little, I would've preferred those words be spent talking more broadly about reincarnation, and different instances of children remembering past lives and past-life regression hypnosis, which I don't think even got a mention.The description of weighing of soul experiments was interesting. Debunking mediums was sort of interesting. Though she casually threw around the word 'ectoplasm' without really explaining what it was supposed to be. My knowledge of it is as green slime from Ghostbusters. But it seemed to be more like.. filmy cloth with telekinetic powers? See, I'm still vague on what it was supposed to be, though I guess I sort of know what it actually was now.But just in general, I felt like she could have covered more areas. Maybe explored a real life hellmouth. Or surely there's some quantum physicist out there with some ideas about souls and converting matter into energy and parallel worlds or something.I also felt her humor was a little muted. Though it was still there. So I can't say it's a bad book, I just wish it had been more than what it was. Especially as I find the concept more interesting than her first book (and the one I read right after this one) about dead bodies.
Roach's humor and skepticism is laugh out loud funny. She's honestly trying to assess the current work being done on the human soul, but along the way, she gets swept up into the world of mediums, the Society for Psychical Research, NDE researchers, and everything in between. She puts a lot of research on the table and even the footnotes are worth reading.
I still can't get over the quality of Roach's writing. She takes her subject very seriously without removing the humor and mystery. If she wrote high school science textbooks, I might now understand biology, chemistry, and physics.
Mary Roach does her legwork. She checks her sources. She investigates. She gets the facts. Then she writes a travelogue. Stiff was well written and informative. Packing for Mars was mostly informative, while showing the author's bent for the tabloid and sensational. Spook is all about tabloid science. She writes about a variety of subjects with a mocking atitude. I do not think her irreverence and disrespect for other peoples beliefs is funny.The title seems to indicate that this is a science book, but I think it is more of a popular culture book with facts and a bibiography. I borrowed the book and it is a very quick read, so I can't begrudge it too much.
Given the author's mocking of romance novel readers, I do find it funny that reading this has inspired me to re-read Amanda Quick's Dangerous.A few weeks ago I happened upon the show Ghost Adventures while the host was showing voice analysis of EVP recordings in which ghosts were making historically questionable word choices. So when I ran across this book at my library, I couldn't help but think, "oh, synchronicity in action!"Though less about what's on the other side than it is a humorous exploration of techniques that do not answer the question *cough*EVP*cough*, this was a diverting way to spend a few hours -- and it may have provided an explanation for my mother's deep-seated aversion to organ music.
First off, I must admit the joke is on me! Having read "Stiff" (5 stars) and "Packing for Mars" (4 stars), I was panting to read Roach's take on 'spirituality.'Actually, I thought this because someone mentioned it in their favorable review of "Packing".... But I should have realized they meant 'spiritualism,' not 'spirituality.'There is, of course, Roach's irreverent humor which offers no quarter to any sacred cow (on this plane or any other!). There is her indefatigable research. But it took me nearly 6 weeks to wade through this book. Need I say more?
The Book Report: Hot off the success of Stiff, Roach launched herself at an equally surprising topic: Does the soul exist? Is it possible to find it? Can the soul's survival of individual death account for the mysteries of reincarnation and hauntings?In a word, No. Roach travels the globe looking for the kind of evidence that scientists look for when postulating the existence of muons and Higgs bosons, sans the billion-plus dollar measuring equipment and teams of serious guys in funny coats and booties. Unsurprisingly, she fails to find it.My Review: All the stars in this book's favor are for Roach's hilarious writing and funny anecdotal collections. None are for the subject at hand, which she simply cannot bring herself to treat seriously. Her lapsed Catholicism made her too deeply skeptical to break free of it horrible fist-clench and look at the improbability of success from the few, one-quarter-assed feeble swats science has aimed at resolving this topic scientifically. Spend twenty or so billion dollars and a couple decades on it. Then let's see what science has to say. After all, they're doing *just that* for this Higgs boson dingus at CERN, so far with no success, and the immense machine they've built to see this particular angel dance on that particular pinhead seems as cranky as my knees on a cold morning.So please forgive me for rating her quest at zero, failed utterly before it started due to prejudice on the part of the questor and her chosen henchrats, but that's the only honest judgment I can render. Going looking for something in a place where it just isn't, and you already knew it wasn't, isn't looking...it's looking for chances to be funny, snarky, and cool, plus scoring one off the mental midgets who spiritually abused you in the name of Jeebus.But GOD this woman's funny! I laughed and laughed and laughed at some of her lines!
Title: Spook: Science Tackles the AfterlifeAuthor: Mary RoachGenre: NonFiction# of pages: 291Start date:End date: 7/20Borrowed/bought: boughtMy rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best]: BDescription of the book: What becomes of soul when we die? That is the answer that Mary Roach attempts to answer in this often quirky and humor filled look at what many people try to find out.Review: This was my first Mary Roach book and my first nonfiction finish in a long time to boot. I ripped through this in a day and a half - and probably my favorite chapter was that of mediums and ectoplasm. I found the first chapter difficult to slog through but once I got past that it was smooth sailing. I will be picking up her other books asap.
Mary Roach is hysterical! Don't miss Bonk and Stiff!
I didn't like this one as much as Stiff, probably because I don't believe in souls so spending so much time speculating about them seems less interesting than actual history and phenomena. But that's me. I'm pretty sure considering the section this is as good as it gets for me. That said there were some pretty interesting stories. The chapter about ectoplasm was hilarious and there were plenty of Mary Roachisms sprinkled throughout to keep me amused. This book confirms my suspicions that Mary and I would get along very well.
This was the first book I've read by Mary Roach, and it won't be the last. Roach has a witty and skeptical mind, and she uses it to good effect in examining different ways that science has explored the afterlife. Roach isn't afraid to insert herself into the story, whether going along to interview a child that may have been reincarnated to enrolling in medium school. She brings a light touch to the subject, yet manages to work a whole bunch of science-cy stuff in a way that was fun and interesting. Although I didn't necessarily expect to entertained or amused by this book when I started, I was (entertained and amused). Plus I learned a lot of different things--some of which I wish I could wipe from my memory (e.g., the method in which mediums hid their "ectoplasm").Roach explores quite a few ways that scientists have used to quantify, prove or document the soul and/or the afterlife. Some of the areas explored in the book include: interviewing children who were allegedly reincarnated; how early scientists looked for the human soul ... in sperm; attempts to measure the a soul by having people expire on a scale; a look at "the giddy, revolting heyday of ectoplasm" and mediums; modern mediums (including the lady that is the model for the TV show Medium); using acoustics to hear the dead; telecommunicating with the dead; hunting for ghosts; and attempting to measure near-death experiences in the operating room.If you're looking for an offbeat read about a subject that I suspect all of us might be just a little bit curious about and you'd like a guide who is both an amusing and talented writer, then this gem of a book is for you. I personally enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. And although Roach's results are pretty inconclusive, she does hold out some tantalizing food for thought that won't leave readers completely empty-handed.An excerpt: Carpenter points out that leprechauns have a volume similar to that of a human Mac. "This makes me suspect, " he writes, "that Leprechauns ... are most likely discarnate humans." This makes me, in turn, suspect that Donald Gilbert Carpenter is most likely not the staid scientists that his many equations and tables suggest.Another excerpt: "Right," says the tutor after a minute has gone by. "Does anyone not feel a contact?" No one raises a hand. I haven't got my energy out the door, and apparently everyone else's is off in heaven at an ice-cream social. I raise my hand. The tutor comes over and puts her hand up to my face. She asks if I can feel my face. What does this mean? It's not numb, so I guess the answer is yes. I nod. "Okay, good, you've got it." She turns back to the group. I don't read minds, but I think I know what's going on in hers: AVOID THE YANK. The Yank is trouble.
Rubbed me the wrong way. The humour got on my nerves. I guess I expected a more serious book. It's not just that the style didn't suit me, but it didn't seem like the author was setting out to do anything but have some laughs and make a few superficial investigations. Lacks depth.
I found this extremely entertaining. Roach researched all sorts of experiments into attempts to contact dead people--supposed reincarnated people, mediums, attempts to weigh souls departing from the dead, etc. She tries out some of the methods herself and even goes to "medium school," but of course, none of the methods work. My only problem with the book is that, at the beginning, Roach presents it as some sort of evaluation of whether people have souls, when really it is a tour of parapsychology methods and experiments that most people--including those who believe in the afterlife--would dismiss as ridiculous.
Mary Roach has already tackled sex and corpses, now she tackles the afterlife. Spook was actually pretty good in Roach's typical fun but scientific way.Roach explores reincarnation, whether a soul exists (is it the big toe? or the sperm?), how much a soul weighs (surprisingly a lot of tests to determine this), ectoplasm, mediums, etc. She actually got to speak with Allison Du Bois, who is the basis of the TV series Medium.I still don't believe quite a bit, and neither did Roach, but I do know that sometimes faith and belief is not based on fact or anything provable. It just is.
The writer's command of the language is superb. Her ability to swing from serious to intelligently flippant and back again without missing a step is amazing. While I did not find her to be "hilarious" as some have advertised, she is truly funny, a genuinely talented writer.What she is not, in this book at least, is "objective", or at least not as objective as she claims (or perhaps thinks) she is. Yes, there are a thousand flaws to be found in the many areas of pseudoscience she has investigated in this book. And yes, there are certainly a large number of "practitioners" of the various aspects of afterlife exploration she touches on who are frauds, or who are fooling themselves, even if they did not fool her. But it still appears that her membrane of disbelief is not to be broken by any evidence, period. If it is possible that a certain something that seems paranormal MIGHT be caused by radio waves or thunder clouds or acid rain or whatever, then surely ALL such occurrences must be produced that same, mundane and NOT paranormal way. She says she wants to believe, but either she is not being paid to believe or she simply does not dare.Still, I LOVE her writing. And her attitude is quite endearing. I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though I could not buy into all of the skeptical conclusions.
Mary Roach looks at the afterlife through the eyes of science, both past & present. It's a tough subject to pin down, as she shows in her typically thorough & funny way. If you read this looking for what actually does happen after you die, you've picked up the wrong book. She says that in her introduction. Yes, she was trying to find out. She interviewed dozens of scientists, read up on more & even went on outings or classes with a few paranormal clubs. The upshot is, no one reliably knows. But her explorations & the facts she turned up makes a wonderful read.Her research seems pretty exhaustive to me. I don't know much about the subject nor do I have a lot of interest. I confess, I bought the book because I enjoy her writing. She has a quirky sense of humor, but doesn't over power me with it. Just flashes it to lighten what could otherwise be a boring subject. How many people want to read about someone going to medium school, after all? Well she did & made it interesting.I can't wait to read her next book "Bonk - the curious coupling of sex & science". After having several kids, I probably know all I need to about sex, but the trip with her should be interesting!
This is absolutely the most humorous and interesting non-fiction I have ever read. Roach's quirky writing style had me laughing out loud and her lay approach to science writing was right at my level. I can't wait to read Bonk!
I love science but it's hard to find something that both discusses something with a broad scope and interesting subject that also talks at a level that doesn't make me feel like I need to have a dictionary and the internet at my side. Mary Roach manages to accomplish this task with ease. Spook is a relatively open look at varying aspects of 'The Afterlife.' I don't agree with every summation, but Mary does a great job of encouraging making your own decisions and possibly investigating further on your own. Lovely read.
I think this is the same book published as 'Six Feet Over' in the UK, so reviewing here.This was a vastly entertaining book, looking into literal soul-searching by scientists through history and to the present, including the pseudo and the well-credentialled, their experiments, theories and er, rather interesting equipment.There were forays into mediumship, delving into ectoplasm (very disgusting), weighing the dying and psychic telephoning: all very fascinating and told with humour & evident, infectious enjoyment by the author. The book frequently made me laugh: the footnotes are not to be missed.I don't know how much the book would appeal to a believer in these various things, but from a sceptical viewpoint, it was very enjoyable."The debunkers are probably right, but they're no fun to visit a graveyard with." Roach may be right about that, but she was certainly fun for this sceptic to take a tour with.
I found this one to be on par with Roach's other two titles ("Stiff" and "Bonk"). I've enjoyed all three nearly equally, and while I don't typically read much non-fiction, I do enjoy Roach's humor for the most part. I would agree with the comment of another reader's review that I read which said this book might be more aptly titled something along the lines of "Spirit" or "Soul" or something similar, as opposed to "Spook", which leads the reader to believe there might be more ghost-story &/or spooky type anecdotes in the book, which is not the case. While most of the information in here was interesting, it seems that science continues to struggle to find evidential proof of a soul's existence.
This is a disappointing book, The author adopts a very flip style that is as suspect as the evidence that the believers in extra-sensory phenomena utilize. The author presumes that all evidence of the afterlife is a hoax and then virtually laughs at those who do believe. For those of us who take a middle road on such subjects, you feel that the judge has passed sentence before the trial has begun. Her skepticism is probably right on a majority of the time, I'm just not sure how deserving of roasting her victims are.
Sandwiched between Stiff (her book about cadavers) and Bonk (her book about sex), is Spook, a book about boring. Honestly, there was some of the flavor of Roach's other books, with her typical humor and dry wit interspersed. I just found it bloody hard and tedious to get through. Perhaps it is my own cynical feelings on the afterlife, but I just could not get absorbed the way I was with her other books. Sorry, Mary, I love ya. But this one was a swing and a miss for me.