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Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
by Mary Roach

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14990.Spook_Science_Tackles_the_Afterlife?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1166669250m/14990.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14990.Spook_Science_Tackles_the_Afterlife?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7956.Mary_Roach">Mary Roach</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9417332?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars When I sat down with my newly purchased copy of Spook and started to read, I was rather surprised. The first thing I find myself reading about is reincarnation. This is not a subject I readily think of when I think of ghosts, nor is it a topic I care much about. However, as I read I was fairly engaged and found Mary Roach to have an opinion of the whole thing similar to my own. As I kept moving through the first few chapters I began to realize something rather disappointing. While this book is titled Spook and the very last word of the book is “ghosts”, this book really has very little to do with ghosts. Instead, as the subtitle indicates, this book is really more about scientific attempts to prove the existence of an afterlife. Personally, I have little interest in this subject. I’ll find if there’s an afterlife when/if I get there. This revelation aside, I still found myself enjoying this book quite a bit. The book is divided into what is essentially twelve essays. Each one deals with a different subject: reincarnation, the search for the soul by anatomists, the “weight” of a soul, ectoplasm, scientifically monitored mediums, a trip to medium school, telecommunication with the dead, the effect of electromagnetic fields on the human mind, psychoacoustics, a court case involving a ghost, and near-death experiences. As I said earlier, I have little interest in the idea of reincarnation (though I wouldn’t mind it turning out to be true) and I’m well aware of the history of anatomists trying to find the seat of the soul in the human body. However, chapter three, which deals with the commonly known idea of a human being losing twenty-one grams of weight at the moment of death, has been a subject I’ve been wanting to hear more about for a long time. I was equally disappointed and excited to see that the jury is still out on this one. While it has been tested in animals, resulting in only negative reactions, it has never been verified using a human being since the time of the original experiment. The chapter also provides a good reason why the theory could be true, but the results using animals have all been negative. Other highlights of the book include Mary exposing herself to electromagnetic radiation, resulting in minor auditory and visual hallucinations, stories of mediums hiding fake ectoplasm in their vaginas, and Mary solving a very old mystery involving ghosts through the use of a handwriting expert (though I have learned lately not to rely too heavily of handwriting analysts after watching Zodiac). While there’s a lot to like here, I did have one big problem with the book. I couldn’t help but feeling Mary could have searched out more reliable researchers than the ones she encounters. It’s not really her fault though. While she ends up consulting scientists at very prestigious institutions such as Cambridge and a few big fancy American colleges, I was a bit shocked to find these learned men so biased (particularly the guy who tests those who talk to the dead). Personally, I find people like the Ghosthunters from the Sci-fi channel much more open and practical. However, I too am biased having met them in person. All in all though, this book is rousingly entertaining and Mary Roach’s ability as a writer is clear. Not only is she light and humorous, but she’s also very personal, and we walk away from this book feeling as though we know her quite well, and I look forward to reading her other books.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/634816?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Noah's review
rating:
recommended for: people with a paranormal interest, ghost fans, science, people who like to cut through the crap

When I sat down with my newly purchased copy of Spook and started to read, I was rather surprised. The first thing I find myself reading about is reincarnation. This is not a subject I readily think of when I think of ghosts, nor is it a topic I care much about. However, as I read I was fairly engaged and found Mary Roach to have an opinion of the whole thing similar to my own. As I kept moving through the first few chapters I began to realize something rather disappointing. While this book is titled Spook and the very last word of the book is “ghosts”, this book really has very little to do with ghosts. Instead, as the subtitle indicates, this book is really more about scientific attempts to prove the existence of an afterlife. Personally, I have little interest in this subject. I’ll find if there’s an afterlife when/if I get there. This revelation aside, I still found myself enjoying this book quite a bit.

The book is divided into what is essentially twelve essays. E...more When I sat down with my newly purchased copy of Spook and started to read, I was rather surprised. The first thing I find myself reading about is reincarnation. This is not a subject I readily think of when I think of ghosts, nor is it a topic I care much about. However, as I read I was fairly engaged and found Mary Roach to have an opinion of the whole thing similar to my own. As I kept moving through the first few chapters I began to realize something rather disappointing. While this book is titled Spook and the very last word of the book is “ghosts”, this book really has very little to do with ghosts. Instead, as the subtitle indicates, this book is really more about scientific attempts to prove the existence of an afterlife. Personally, I have little interest in this subject. I’ll find if there’s an afterlife when/if I get there. This revelation aside, I still found myself enjoying this book quite a bit.

The book is divided into what is essentially twelve essays. Each one deals with a different subject: reincarnation, the search for the soul by anatomists, the “weight” of a soul, ectoplasm, scientifically monitored mediums, a trip to medium school, telecommunication with the dead, the effect of electromagnetic fields on the human mind, psychoacoustics, a court case involving a ghost, and near-death experiences. As I said earlier, I have little interest in the idea of reincarnation (though I wouldn’t mind it turning out to be true) and I’m well aware of the history of anatomists trying to find the seat of the soul in the human body. However, chapter three, which deals with the commonly known idea of a human being losing twenty-one grams of weight at the moment of death, has been a subject I’ve been wanting to hear more about for a long time. I was equally disappointed and excited to see that the jury is still out on this one. While it has been tested in animals, resulting in only negative reactions, it has never been verified using a human being since the time of the original experiment. The chapter also provides a good reason why the theory could be true, but the results using animals have all been negative. Other highlights of the book include Mary exposing herself to electromagnetic radiation, resulting in minor auditory and visual hallucinations, stories of mediums hiding fake ectoplasm in their vaginas, and Mary solving a very old mystery involving ghosts through the use of a handwriting expert (though I have learned lately not to rely too heavily of handwriting analysts after watching Zodiac).

While there’s a lot to like here, I did have one big problem with the book. I couldn’t help but feeling Mary could have searched out more reliable researchers than the ones she encounters. It’s not really her fault though. While she ends up consulting scientists at very prestigious institutions such as Cambridge and a few big fancy American colleges, I was a bit shocked to find these learned men so biased (particularly the guy who tests those who talk to the dead). Personally, I find people like the Ghosthunters from the Sci-fi channel much more open and practical. However, I too am biased having met them in person.

All in all though, this book is rousingly entertaining and Mary Roach’s ability as a writer is clear. Not only is she light and humorous, but she’s also very personal, and we walk away from this book feeling as though we know her quite well, and I look forward to reading her other books....less

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