Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife – Hardcover by Mary Roach

Why We Shelved It:

A delightfully skeptical, fiercely curious, and endlessly entertaining scientific investigation into the soul and the afterlife. Bestselling science writer Mary Roach embarks on a whimsical yet rigorous quest across centuries of spiritualism, neurology, and parapsychology to ask what—if anything—happens when we die. Shelved proudly at the dark, curious intersection of our Fiction & Dark Lore and Lifestyle & Botanical Wellness collections alongside Mary Roach’s Stiff and Gulp, this hardcover edition is a must-have for seekers of esoteric truth and lovers of quirky popular science.

The Work:

Throughout human history, people have looked at the corpse left behind and asked, "Where did they go?" In Spook, Mary Roach dives headfirst into the twilight zone between science and spirituality, examining the earnest (and often bizarre) attempts by scientists, mediums, and researchers to prove the existence of a soul.

Inside this captivating hardcover volume, readers will explore:

• The 21-Gram Soul Experiment: Examining early 20th-century attempts to weigh dying patients in search of the escaping soul's physical mass.

• Reincarnation & Children's Memories: Investigating rigorous academic case studies of children who claim to remember past lives.

• Mediums, Séances & EVP: A look inside the Victorian obsession with spiritualism and modern attempts to capture electronic voice phenomena from the beyond.

• Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): Neurological and psychological theories explaining the tunnels of light, out-of-body sensations, and peaceful transitions reported by survivors.

Equal parts witty, open-minded, and intellectually rigorous, Spook is a fascinating journey through humanity's most enduring and mysterious question.

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