cover image The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet

The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet

Matthew Fox. HarperOne, $16.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-06-062864-2

Here is another book about heaven's winged creatures. But, what a book this is. Essentially a dialogue between the radical theologian and Episcopalian priest Fox and maverick biologist Sheldrake, this book is a bizarre amalgam of New Age speculation and exploration of the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, Thomas Aquinas and Hildegard of Bingen for news of angels. Of angel lore there is much of merit in this book, but the book is irritating when it pretends to be science rather than spirituality. The authors' work would have benefited from a heavier editorial hand, for the book often reads like an e-mail exchange in which the effort at dialogue too easily descends into monologue. Fox and Sheldrake have written a book that is charming without being dangerous. (Sept.)