Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Mary Roach, 2005
Stories about what engineers, scientists, mediums, doctors, and other individuals are doing to try and prove, or disprove, life after death.
This is a tough one for me to rate. I like Mary Roach - her book Stiff is one of my favorite nonfiction books - and this is the third book of hers that I've read. The problem is that, unlike books like Stiff or Packing for Mars, the science in this one is a bit more flimsy. Nothing against the way she wrote or researched it, it's just that how do you prove or disprove the afterlife? It's not the same kind of science as what you would use to write about space travel.
That being said, I like the way she went about it. She's obviously a skeptic going in - she freely admits this fact - but she doesn't really try to prove or disprove anything. She presents the research as is and pretty much leaves it open ended. My reason for not liking this book as much as her other writings is simply because I prefer my science more concrete. But I really like the way she did the research and her writing is always good. Looking forward to picking up her other books.
This is a tough one for me to rate. I like Mary Roach - her book Stiff is one of my favorite nonfiction books - and this is the third book of hers that I've read. The problem is that, unlike books like Stiff or Packing for Mars, the science in this one is a bit more flimsy. Nothing against the way she wrote or researched it, it's just that how do you prove or disprove the afterlife? It's not the same kind of science as what you would use to write about space travel.
That being said, I like the way she went about it. She's obviously a skeptic going in - she freely admits this fact - but she doesn't really try to prove or disprove anything. She presents the research as is and pretty much leaves it open ended. My reason for not liking this book as much as her other writings is simply because I prefer my science more concrete. But I really like the way she did the research and her writing is always good. Looking forward to picking up her other books.
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