The Science Delusion
Author: Rupert Sheldrake, 2013, Coronet: UK
Sheldrake throws light on the one ‘god’ that few challenge at this point in history – the ‘god’ of science. Most of those I know view science as the answer to all our woes, in particular the answer to environmental problems or ‘animal issues’, for example, ‘managing’ wildlife populations. Yet, to me, science is the very thing that has damaged, and is damaging this world, and has become one of the greatest threats to wildlife. Or should I say scientism and its attitude has become one of the greatest threats. Yes, the computer I write this on, and the internet these words gets transported through, were created by science, at least the nuts and bolts of both. But it has become a ‘god’ in our lifetime and people turn a blind eye to the damage it is doing, much like they did when confronted by the religion-state power bloc of the pre-Enlightenment period in the West. Here, Sheldrake 
deconstructs science, lays its ideology bare. He shows the reader how narrow and limited science has become; how dogmatic. But he argues it can, and should, open itself and start, once more, to look afresh at the world. I recommend this book to those who see science as the only vehicle by which, or through which, environmental and human-animal conflict problems will be resolved as it helps us question some very profound beliefs embedded in this view.
Carolyn Drew
