Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery [Hardcover]

Rupert Sheldrake (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 4, 2012

The bestselling author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home offers an intriguing new assessment of modern day science that will radically change the way we view what is possible.

In Science Set Free (originally published to acclaim in the UK as The Science Delusion), Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows the ways in which science is being constricted by assumptions that have, over the years, hardened into dogmas. Such dogmas are not only limiting, but dangerous for the future of humanity.
 
According to these principles, all of reality is material or physical; the world is a machine, made up of inanimate matter; nature is purposeless; consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain; free will is an illusion; God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls.
 
But should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? Sheldrake shows that the materialist ideology is moribund; under its sway, increasingly expensive research is reaping diminishing returns while societies around the world are paying the price.
 
In the skeptical spirit of true science, Sheldrake turns the ten fundamental dogmas of materialism into exciting questions, and shows how all of them open up startling new possibilities for discovery.
 
Science Set Free will radically change your view of what is real and what is possible.

Editorial Reviews

Review

 
"Science is ready to evolve beyond materialism and dogma. Rupert Sheldrake is a pioneer who is paving the way for the future of the sciences."  
—Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of War of the Worldviews
 
“This provocative and engaging book will make you question basic assumptions of Western science.  I agree with Rupert Sheldrake that, among other problems, those assumptions hinder medical progress because they severely limit our understanding of health and illness. I will recommend Science Set Free to my colleagues, students, patients, and friends.”
—Andrew Weil, M.D., author of Spontaneous Happiness

“Rupert Sheldrake may be to the 21st century what Charles Darwin was to the 19th:  someone who sent science spinning in wonderfully new and fertile directions.  The only thing that is certain in science is that it will change.  In SCIENCE SET FREE, Sheldrake gives us an inspiring picture of what these changes are likely to be."
—Larry Dossey, M.D. author of Reinventing Medicine
 
 “Science is often portrayed as a paragon of intellectual freedom. It's a quaint idea, but it's not true. Some key concepts in science have hardened into unshakeable, unquestioned dogma. Science Set Free exposes ten of the key dogmas of modern times. If even one is slightly off, then the scientific world is in for a shock, and the aftershocks will have huge impacts on technology, medicine, and religion. Rupert Sheldrake skillfully examines each dogma and argues, with evidence, that all ten dogmas are wrong. After reading this book I am persuaded that he's right. If you agree that science must be freed from the shackles of antiquated beliefs, then read this book. If you don't agree, then read it twice.”
—Dean Radin, Ph.D., author of The Conscious Universe
 
“This is a terrific, engrossing book that throws open the shutters to reveal our world to be so much more intriguing and profound than could ever have been supposed.”
—James Le Fanu, author of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine
 
“Certainly we need to accept the limitations of much current dogma and keep our minds as open as we reasonably can. Sheldrake may help us do so through this well-written, challenging, and always interesting book.”
—Sir Crispin Tickell, Financial Times
 
“Rupert Sheldrake does science, humanity and the world at large a considerable favor.”
—Colin Tudge, Ph.D., Independent
 
“A fascinating, humane, and refreshing book that any layman can enjoy. . . . Dr. Sheldrake wants to bring energy and excitement back into science . . . He has already done more than any other scientist alive to broaden the appeal of the discipline, and readers should get their teeth into the important and astounding book.”
—Jason Goodwin, Country Life

About the Author

DR. RUPERT SHELDRAKE is a biologist and author of more than 80 technical papers and ten books, including A New Science of Life and Dogs That Know When Their Owners Come Home. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, where he was Director of Studies in cell biology, and also was a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. From 2005-2010, he was the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for research on unexplained human abilities, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, and a Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute in Connecticut. He is married, has two sons, and lives in London. His web site is www.sheldrake.org.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Deepak Chopra (September 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0770436706
• ISBN-13: 978-0770436704
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Science & Religion
  • #48 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Cosmology

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable, fascinating and crucial September 4, 2012

By Peter White

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We all have assumptions that frame how and what we know; without them we couldn't think at all much less discover a cure for Alzheimer's. But assumptions can take on a life of their own and choke off the pursuit of knowledge; especially vulnerable are those who sit atop powerful hierarchies for long periods of time. The medieval Church required astronomers to assume that the earth was at the center of the solar system. Science overthrew such groundless imperatives but today seems unable to disenthrall itself from its own long and tautly held assumptions. In "Science Set Free," Rupert Sheldrake names ten of these assumptions and explains, without raising his voice, why science needs to have another look at each one.

His arguments make sense to me. For example, the first assumption Sheldrake takes on is the hypothesis of materialism: the idea that only matter and energy exist and that the cosmos is a machine with no original purpose and a bleak entropic future. Under this assumption, held as an unassailable dogma by science, existence is purposeless, consciousness is an illusion, we have no free will, and God is out of the question. These are not small issues.

"Science Set Free" takes us through the history of materialist theory, showing how it emerged in the Renaissance in a religious context, acquired self-confidence in the deism of the Enlightenment, and in the 19th and 20th centuries attained megalomania, leading to the notions of reality mentioned above. Sheldrake rejects materialism and depicts nature as an organic whole with boundless evolutionary potential. His arguments are based on the sound science in which he is grounded as a Cambridge and Harvard-trained biologist; but what I admire especially is that he is also a man of "scientia sacra," which reveres the poetry and beauty of life and knows that there is more to knowledge than measurement.

"Science Set Free" is readable, fascinating and, no matter what you believe, crucial.

52 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful challenge to the materialist worldview September 5, 2012

By Robert McLuhan

Format:Hardcover

For those of us who are suspicious of the claims of materialism it's astonishing, and also heartening, to hear a scientist agree that it's a hidebound ideology, dismiss the belief in determinism as a 'delusion' and call on the 'high priests' of science to abandon their 'fantasy of omniscience'.

This all sounds rather rhetorical, but this is as polemical as his language gets; the book certainly has little about religion. For the most part it's a dispassionate expose of materialism's failures, and a plea for scientists to open up to new thinking. Despite his reputation as a heretic, gained from his controversial theory of morphic resonance and his psychic research, Sheldrake has impeccable credentials as a biochemist - Cambridge, Harvard, ground-breaking research and a stint in India helping to develop high-yield crops - that demand respect.

Sheldrake identifies ten core beliefs that scientists take for granted: that people and animals are complex mechanisms rather than goal-driven organisms; that matter is unconscious and human consciousness an illusion; that the laws of nature are fixed; that nature is purposeless; that all biological inheritance is carried via material structures like genes, and so on. Each is the basis of a chapter, in which he draws attention to unresolved tensions, problems and dilemmas. Most scientists think these will eventually be ironed out. However Sheldrake argues they are symptoms of a deeper malaise, and that the failure of the materialist model to make good on its predictions will eventually lead to its demise.

A key idea for Sheldrake is the existence of information fields that act as a kind of universal memory. Once a form or activity has come into being it provides the blueprint for other similar effects, which may then multiply with ease. The classic example is the formation of crystals, for which Sheldrake has elsewhere provided evidence, but in principle he thinks it can apply to anything, from the development of organisms to the acquisition of new skills.

This has implications for cosmology, he believes. Far from being set in stone since the Big Bang, nature's laws should be considered as evolving habits that grow stronger through repetition; the universe is an ongoing creative process, of which human creativity is part. In biology the machine metaphors beloved of materialist thinkers are misleading, he insists. No machine starts from small beginnings, grows, forms new structures within itself and then reproduces itself. Yet plants and animals do this all the time and to many people - especially those like pet owners and gardeners who deal with them on a daily basis - it's 'blindingly obvious' that they are living organisms. For scientists to see them as machines propelled only by ordinary physics and chemistry is an act of faith.

Despite the excitement over gene science in the past two decades, and the $100 billion biotechnology boom that it fuelled, only a very limited genetic basis has been discovered for human disease, he points out. The genes associated with development have turned out to be almost identical in mice, humans, flies and reptiles, offering no insights as to why these forms differ so dramatically.

On the subject of consciousness Sheldrake points out that even materialists can't decide what causes it, which is why there are so many rival theories. He quotes Galen Strawson, himself a materialist, who is scathing about the way fellow philosophers are willing to deny the reality of their own experience - testament to the power of the materialist faith. He approves Strawson's interest in panspychism, the doctrine that all matter is invested with mental as well as physical aspects.

There is just one chapter on psychic research: this covers telepathy and precognition, with especial focus on animal telepathy. (The sense of being stared at is covered in a chapter on consciousness.) There is also a chapter on mechanistic medicine, in which he acknowledges its record of success, but questions whether it is the only kind that works.

This is a superb and timely book. My own academic research has convinced me that psychic phenomena genuinely occur, and that the rejection of it is driven largely by ideology and personal antipathy. That being the case, it's hard to conceive that the materialist model is the whole story. Most scientists will brush off Sheldrake's arguments as a persistence of discredited vitalism, but it may encourage some to be open about the more sympathetic views that Sheldrake claims they often express to him in private.

There's also a need for a book like this that's authoritative, wide ranging and accessible, and that challenges the materialist paradigm for the benefit of a wider audience. That applies especially to young people whose ideas have not yet been shaped by it, and their curiosity tamed and dulled as a result. It would be good to think that their generation may have a greater opportunity to question the prevailing dogmas and perhaps eventually forge a new science, one that describes more closely what humans observe and feel about their world.

(Robert McLuhan is author of Randi's Prize: What sceptics say about the paranormal, why they are wrong and why it matters)

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 reasons for reading this book October 3, 2012

By Pete Sargasso

Format:Hardcover

SCIENCE SET FREE is an excellent work, well worth the reading. Here are ten reasons why.
1. Good writing. The sine-qua-non of all good books... and the test is that once started it is hard to put down.
2. Personal. One can feel the engagement of the writer in the prose. He is there in light touches of humour: but more importantly, he is there in his conviction, in his willingness to share data and in his reporting of the way his work has been marginalized - not because it is wrong- but because it challenges some of the current assumptions of Science.
3. Coherent Structure. All the chapters follow the same pattern, and this gives the book a special kind of unity. Each chapter begins with a question followed by a historical analysis of how that question has been answered in different epochs, and leading to an up-to-date analysis of the available data.
4. Superb bibliography. Enough reading here for a lifetime.
5. Breaks new ground. No one can tell where research will lead, but an openness to fresh ideas is necessary for progress.
6. Educational. Whether one agrees with Sheldrake or not, SCIENCE SET FREE serves as an introduction to many areas of scientific research. Where the jargon of science is necessary to avoid confusion, he explains not only the meaning of a given term, but its etymology. That is a courtesy to the reader and greatly facilitates understanding.
7. Interdisciplinary. The text moves easily from scientific research to conclusions from ancient and modern philosophy. Also, it is not restricted to one science but ranges from physics to botany, to the experiences of shamans, to telepathy, and yes, to religion somewhat.... Hence we gain a comprehensive picture. The quest is for knowledge and understanding with an open mind, but with a humanitarian conscience to guide it.
8 Challenges the imagination.
9 Tackles subjects rarely tackled. Telepathy, precognition, etc.
10 Explores and explains Morphic resonance, an exciting hypothesis which may, in time, be conclusively proven.
Basically, Morphic Resonance argues that similar patterns of activity resonate across time and space with subsequent patterns. This hypothesis applies to all self-organizing systems, including atoms, molecules, crystals, cells, plants, animals, and animal societies. All draw on a collective memory and in turn contribute to it. Thus, when an orb web spider starts spinning its web, it follows the habits of countless ancestors, resonating with them directly across space and time. The more people who learn a new skill, the easier will it be for others to learn it because of morphic resonance.
What excited my attention regarding this is that it explained the way that rehearsals for a play can suddenly come alive. I have noticed this often. At a certain point, repetition becomes resonance, and the whole play/rehearsal moves forwards with greater coherence. Actors suddenly find they know their lines and the whole emotional tone lifts. When the experience is too fragmented this does not happen.
And of course, if Sheldrake's theory is correct, then the more people who begin to think and seek for morphic resonance, the more it should manifest.