Arguing Science

A Dialogue on the Future of Science and Spirit

Rupert Sheldrake & Michael Shermer

Paperback 978-1-939681-57-7 US $15.95 /CAN $20.99 Ebook 978-1-939681-58-4 US $11.99 /CAN $15.50

Sheldrake argues that science needs to free itself from materialist dogma while Shermer contends that science, properly conceived, is a materialistic enterprise; for science to look beyond materialist explanations is to betray science and engage in superstition. Among the subjects discussed are materialism and its role in science, whether belief in God is compatible with a scientific perspective, and parapsychology.

This book will especially appeal to Shermer and Sheldrake fans as well as to readers of Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Francis S. Collins ("The Language of God"). It will have great appeal to all readers interested in the God vs Science question, as well spiritual seekers looking for an intellectual framework for their spiritual beliefs.

Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims

Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and author, is best known for his hypothesis of morphic fields and morphic resonance, which leads to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory. He worked in developmental biology at Cambridge University, where he was a Fellow of Clare College. He was then Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge.

"...the biggest gift of this book is that one is forced to consider one’s own position on many fascinating questions...Given the state of the world and the polarization being inflamed by religious zealotry, it is probably time that we all re-examined our beliefs. This book provides some useful directions."—Miriam Knight, New Conscious Review

Author Michael Shermer interviewed by Alan Steinfeld for New Realities