Proponents of the author's new-age beliefs will be intrigued; others will be more skeptical.
A neuropsychologist argues that the time has come for “an expanded model of reality” that takes into account the separation of mind and consciousness from the brain.
Beauregard (The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul, 2008, etc.), an associate researcher at the University of Montreal, cites examples to set the stage for his conviction that “mind and consciousness are not produced by the brain.” He gives examples of the placebo effect and the use of neurofeedback to train the mind to control brain functions, and he rejects efforts to map areas of the brain to mental functions by the use of electrical stimulation and other methods—he deems these to be reductionist. To support his contention of the primacy of mind over matter, Beauregard describes the apparent effectiveness of black magic on victims who believe in the power of spells. More controversial are his contentions about extrasensory perception. He reports examples of out-of-body and near-death experiences, which he interprets as proof of the existence of the soul and its life after death. He also discusses clairvoyance and precognition; he writes, “no current theories in physics, psychology, or neuroscience can explain them convincingly.” In the author’s view, a scientific paradigm shift is on the horizon, and he states what he claims to be definitive proof that under certain conditions “telepathy does occur.” He cites an experiment in which participants in different rooms were shown the same four pictures. One made a selection and the other guessed which one was selected. In one third of the instances, the second participant chose the correct picture, beating the “odds against chance beyond a million billion to one.” He does not entertain the possibility that the experimental design was flawed.
Proponents of the author's new-age beliefs will be intrigued; others will be more skeptical.Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-207156-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
A comprehensive overview of the Amazon Basin's riparian ecology and of the economic development that threatens to destroy it. ``As the new century approaches,'' the authors write, ``the Amazon is being transformed by deforestation, urban growth, mining, dams, and widespread exploitation of its natural resources.'' Yet in world coverage of these events, they maintain, the Amazon serves as a backdrop; they offer the astonishing fact that more is known about the Amazon as a whole than about a handful of its tributaries, thanks to a lack of thoroughgoing ecological investigations of the entire region. This book, by three leading authorities on the Amazon, provides a summary of what is, in fact, known. Among the sobering matters that the authors cover is the destruction of Brazil's Atlantic rainforest over the centuries, ``a poignant lesson in the dangers of ignoring the need for conservation and rational management of natural resources.'' They examine the history of jute and rubber production, which brought the first wave of European and mestizo colonists into the Amazonian interior a century ago, and describe current economic trends, especially the clearance of rainforest for livestock grazing. Along the way, they offer a guided tour of the Amazon's rich and varied ecological zones, noting that ``most of the Amazon's legendary biodiversity is not . . . expressed in the vertebrates,'' but in insects, in the preservation of whose floodplain habitat lies the key to determining how to save the larger rainforest. That determination is pressing, because the destruction of that region ``could happen in just decades. . . . Unless action is taken within the next few years, it may be too late. The task would then be restoration, not preservation.'' A fine contribution to Amazonian studies and to the literature of environmental advocacy. (90 color photos, 3 b&w photos, 2 maps)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 1996
ISBN: 0-231-10420-0
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Columbia Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
BBC correspondent Shukman has looked into the high-tech future of warfare and determined it could work all too well. Drawing mainly on interviews with high-ranking members of the Global Village's ubiquitous military/industrial complex, the author first surveys the state of the military arts in a troubled world where atomic weaponry and worse is within the reach of even backward states. Casting a cold eye on the ABM systems developed by Russia, the UK, and the US, he notes that there's been precious little protection against missiles such as Iraqi Scuds, which can be launched from mobile platforms. The author next reviews the increasing accuracy with which offensive forces can deliver bombs or other ordnance to almost any target without collateral damage (Pentagonese for civilian casualties), thanks to ongoing advances in computer, satellite, and laser guidance techniques. Assessed as well are the unmanned vehicles (terrestrial as well as airborne), robots, and other electromechanical rigs that, in theory at least, could replace human warriors on tomorrow's battlefields. Among the wilder dreams that have moved from the drawing board to a test bed are so-called soldier-ants—expendable microchips that can be remotely controlled to conduct surveillance missions, chew through communications cabling, disable gun emplacements, halt traffic on busy highways, and otherwise sow confusion behind enemy lines. Recalling Joshua's successful siege of Jericho, the author also considers nonlethal arms that incapacitate without killing or wounding, as well as their deadlier counterparts—biological and chemical agents that can fell the populations of whole cities. In this bleak context, he concludes that the West should continue funding research of advanced weapons to retain an edge over rogue nations and to maintain the means to devise such countermeasures as circumstance might dictate. A sobering inventory that leaves no doubt: Planet Earth's arsenal is Pandora's box.
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100198-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
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