Review from Midwest Book Review
Synopsis: Gerald A. Press had spent more than 40 years teaching ancient Greek philosophy and its largely bygone ideas about intellect, souls, the divine, and what comes before and after our lives on Earth.
Rebecca Coffey had spent more than 30 years as a science journalist working across biology and physics. She also drew a bit. When he died, she had been making him a book of fanciful pelicans.
By the end of the day that Gerald died, the first event resistant to the scientific explanations of Rebecca had happened.
Pelicans and the Science of Souls is a grief memoir by science journalist Rebecca Coffey. Her partner Gerald A. Press (a widely recognized Plato scholar), “visited” her for many months after dying. In an effort to understand the persistence of their bond, Rebecca examined ancient Greek ideas about the soul and afterlife alongside key concepts from quantum physics, particularly entanglement.
Of special note is that Pelicans and the Science of Souls is illustrated with pelican drawings Rebecca and made for Gerald.
Critique: Original, emotionally engaging, thought-provoking, memorable, Pelicans and the Science of Souls is a unique, extraordinary, and unreservedly recommended pick for readers with an interest in the subjects of The Nature of the Human Soul, Death & Dying, Science & Spirituality, and Greco-Roman Philosophy. While highly recommended for both community and college/university library collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for students, academia, and the non-specialist general reader that this trade paperback edition of “Pelicans and the Science of Souls” from Beck & Branch Publishers is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.00).
Editorial Note: Rebecca Coffey (https://rebeccacoffey.com) has contributed science journalism to Scientific American, Discover, Forbes, Salon, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, JSTOR Daily, Dame, Psychology Today, Vermont Public Radio, and the Genetic Literacy Project. She has appeared on syndicated talk shows like WNYC’s The Takeaway, WAMC’s 51 Percent, Fox News’ Happening Now, The Bob Edwards Show, The Jim Bohannon Show, The Stephanie Miller Show, NPR’s Air Talk with Larry Mantle, and on major-market programs produced by NPR affiliates in New York, Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Albany, and Indianapolis. She regularly speaks at colleges and universities, at conferences, and on podcasts.
Paul T. Vogel
Reviewer