Day 52: 'Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife'

If you like: Buzzfeed Unsolved, Bill Bryson, What If, Oliver Sacks

By Mary Roach; W.W. Norton and Co.

Mary Roach is a treasure. I’ve read a number of her books—all investigative journalism—from the study of science and sex to an icky close-up of the alimentary canal, but Spook has been my favorite. It’s tagline is Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Roach spends the book journeying around the world with tireless curiosity.

What makes Spook so amazing is its accessibility. I’m not very bright when it comes to STEM topics, and I don’t have a very long attention span with science-y nonfiction, but Roach takes immensely complex ideas and makes them palatable for someone like me.

One of my favorite chapters deals with infrasound. Infrasound has been used to study the idea of ghosts trying to communicate with the living. At a certain decibel, it can “engender all manner of mysterious-seeming phenomena…such as tingling on the back of the neck and ‘strange feelings in the stomach’…Infrasound has also been reported to cause vision irregularities: sometimes blurring, sometimes a vibrating visual field.” It blows my mind that something so small can have such a big impact on our bodies, and create seemingly supernatural responses.

While I really enjoyed learning about infrasound and electromagnetic fields, the best part is the humanistic approach Roach takes while exploring those topics. In every chapter, Roach is accompanied by an expert as they explore a different facet of the afterlife, and ends up studying them as much as she studies the science behind what they’re doing. People are passionate and strange, and our own human experiences end up heavily influencing what we believe and how we approach the idea of the afterlife.

With passionate and strange humans, Roach included, there is plenty of room for awkward, hilarious situations. She has a habit of sticking her foot in her mouth, and sometimes her cynicism gets the best of her, but those are the parts that make me laugh the most.

Spook may not be for everyone’s taste. Roach opens the book with a disclaimer that while she is exploring scientific threads of the afterlife, she maintains a skeptic. From reincarnation, to hauntings, to mediums, Roach’s tone always errs on the side of critical. It matches how I approach the idea of the afterlife, so I felt right at home, but others may not enjoy some of her snark.

The best part is that Roach admits, whether your beliefs are more tied to the supernatural or the scientific, that “the most staunchly held views are based on ignorance or accepted dogma, not carefully considered accumulations of facts. The more you expose the intricacies and realities of the situation, the less clear-cut things become.”

"Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" by Mary Roach; W.W. Norton and Co.; 2006.