SCIENCE, CONSCIOUSNESS & ULTIMATE REALITY David Lorimer, ed., Exeter, Imprint Academic, 2004. Paperback, 250 pages, £14.95. ISBN 0-907845-79-7. Imprint Academic, PO Box 200, Exeter, EX5 5YX, UK

The Scientific and Medical Network exists to allow scientists, doctors, philosophers, theologians and other specialists to meet together and benefit from an interchange of ideas and discoveries. The papers published in this book arose out of a number of public dialogues held by the Network during 2001-2003; they all concern issues arising from the interaction between science, religion and consciousness studies. David Lorimer, who edited the volume and contributed the introduction, writes: 'Such studies postulate the existence - or at any rate the experience of sacred or numinous realms that seem to transcend the physical dimension and normal states of human awareness.'
    The range of papers is wide: Professor Bernard Carr's paper investigates whether mind is fundamental or incidental in the cosmos. While scientists consider the material world as 'real' they hold that the mental world is not, is imaginary. But, he points out, 'the existence of telepathy suggests that some mental experiences can be shared and therefore possess some of the same attributes of externality as physical objects.'
    Professor Chris Clarke asks about the nature of the world we live in, is it 'a meaningless machine constructed of identical particles?'He makes the point that the common practice of reducing all scientific explanations ultimately to physics and its theory of a basic matter is, itself, 'an act of faith that is impossible to prove.' Professor Ravi Ravindra speaks of Yoga: 'science' he says, 'seeks to understand and control processes in the world, using the rational mind as the tool of exploration and explanation.' But Yoga, 'seeks to transform the human being so that the reality behind the world can be experienced. ' Yoga teaches people to journey to the still mind which is 'one's true nature.'
    Neurosurgeon and Psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Fenwick is concerned about the imbalance in science since it studies only the physical aspects of phenomena and regards consciousness as secondary. He is interested in the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences: 10% of cardiac arrest patients have them. They provide a means of investigating the question of whether the brain alone creates consciousness or whether we should take a wider view: 'If consciousness is found to continue after normal electrical activity in the brain has ceased, this suggests that we may be fundamentally spiritual beings.' There is much we can learn from this intelligent, well argued and paradigm testing book. We should take advantage of it.
    Michael Baigent