Reddit reviews Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

• Naked Statistics by Charles Wheelan is a great overview of the science of statistics, without being too much like a lecture. After reading it, you'll have a better understanding of what statistics are just silly (like in ads or clickbait news) and what are actually important (like in scientific studies).
  
  
• You on a Diet by Roizen and Oz is touted as a diet book, and it kind of is. I recommend it because it's a great resource for basic understanding the science behind the gastrointestinal system, and how it links to the brain.
  
  
• All of Mary Roach's books are excellent overviews of science currently being done, I've read Stiff (the science of human bodies, post-mortem), Spook ("science tackles the afterlife"), Packing for Mars (the science of humans in space), and Bonk (sex), and they are all very easy to understand, but scientifically appropriate. I'm sure "Gulp" is good too, although I haven't read that one yet.
  
  
• "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming" by Mike Brown is a great, accessible overview of exactly why Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet, told by the man who started the controversy.
  
  
• "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking is a little denser, material-wise, but still easy to understand (as far as theoretical physics goes, at least!). Hawking explains the history of physics and the universe, as well as the future of the discipline. While there is a bit more jargon than some pop-science books, I think an entry-level scientist can still read and understand this book.
  

I'm reading Spook right now. There are people that research kids' reincarnation stories. I wish more non-Hindus would contact them, since most of it comes from India where reincarnation is pretty much fact.

My mom tells me when I was little I always asked questions like, "when I was a chicken, did I . . . ?" or "when I was a brick, was I . . . ?" I don't think you can get reincarnated as a brick though.

A long time ago, there was a scientist, Dr. MacDougall.
interesting book about death,
also this, also that. The reasoning is legit, but it was not scientific and was unable to be reproduced. So the commentor's statement of "poop" is more accurate :)

Some 4 year olds in India dream of reincarnation, so I guess that's real too.


Or maybe it's bullshit.

possibly not true. If you read Spook, there's a fascinating conversation with a physicist in which he uses thermodynamics and information theory to argue that your consciousness might not just disappear... instead, it may get "recycled" by the universe. So there may be a sort of afterlife, though not in the "spirits floating around and interacting" sense.

You might be interested in reading Spook. If basically goes through and takes a look at various beliefs of what happens after people die. It covers near death, ghosts, reincarnation, etc.

God might be hiding somewhere too. Pixies might. Fairy dust too. Until we come up with something that is provable, however, it's useless speculation. There is not even a shred of proof of anything that even remotely resembles a soul. And I'm not just saying that to be contrary, I really wish there was something. I'm the kind of guy that reads books like Spook - which is a great book, by the way - about the earnest search for... something. It just isn't there.

Mary Roach is great. I also loved her books ["Bonk"] (http://www.amazon.com/Bonk-The-Curious-Coupling-Science/dp/0393334791/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1409258621&sr=8-7&keywords=mary+roach) (about sex-related research) and ["Spook"] (http://www.amazon.com/Spook-Science-Afterlife-Mary-Roach/dp/0393329127/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1409258592&sr=8-6&keywords=mary+roach) (about research into the paranormal).

I would start off with Stiff and then Bonk. I liked Spook but on amazon it doesn't have as good of reviews as the others so I'd read that one later if you aren't as interested in it. I've yet to read packing for mars but if it's anything like her other books, it's wonderful.

Fun book! Funny woman investigates scientific studies that have been done on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Spook-Science-Afterlife-Mary-Roach/dp/0393329127

I want to learn about the afterlife. What happens when you die? What are some of the ideas people have of the afterlife? It's both terrifying and fascinating, but it's something I like to think about. This book would help me tackle the subject with more depth.