The best books on physics, space and consciousness
Physics is where the question of consciousness gets sharpest: what a measurement is, what space and time are made of, and whether reality is a pattern of information. The books here take those questions from several directions, from mainstream cosmology to the proposals physicists have made outside it.
Start with the standard accounts of quantum theory and the cosmos, then read the ones that ask what the observer is doing and what space is made of. Every title is non-fiction and is cited in Brendan D. Murphy’s work.
- 1
The Tao of Physics
Fritjof Capra, 1982
Fritjof Capra’s classic comparison of modern physics and Eastern mysticism. The book that made the connection widely known.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness)
- 2
The Holographic Universe
Michael Talbot, 1996
Brings together Bohm’s physics and Pribram’s brain research into the idea that reality is a hologram. Brendan credits it with starting his own research.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness; Creating And Perceiving The Superhologram; The Human Aura; Clairvoyance)
- 3
The Quantum Enigma
Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner, 2006
Two physicists explain why quantum mechanics raises the question of the observer, and what that does to the idea of an independent physical world.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Question of Consciousness; Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness)
- 4
The Field
Lynne McTaggart, 2003
Lynne McTaggart on the zero point field and the experiments she reads as showing that everything is connected.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Occult Aether; Creating And Perceiving The Superhologram; The Human Aura; Clairvoyance)
- 5
The Presence of the Past
Rupert Sheldrake, 1994
Rupert Sheldrake proposes that nature has a collective memory, so that habits spread across a species through morphic resonance.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Question of Consciousness; Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness; The Human Aura; Telepathy)
- 6
Hyperspace
Michio Kaku, 1994
A physicist’s tour of extra dimensions and the theories that need them.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Question of Consciousness; Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness)
- 7
The Fabric of the Cosmos
Brian Greene, 2005
Brian Greene on space, time and the nature of reality, from the standard physics. Useful to read before the more speculative books.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness; The Occult Aether)
- 8
Dance of the Photons
Anton Zeilinger, 2010
Anton Zeilinger, whose experiments helped establish quantum teleportation, on entanglement and what it shows.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (Quantum Weirdness And Cosmic Oneness; Creating And Perceiving The Superhologram)
- 9
Modern Aether Science
Harold Aspden, 1972
A physicist argues for a physical aether and reworks ideas about gravity and inertia around it.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Occult Aether; Psychokinesis And The Belief Effect)
- 10
Cymatics
Hans Jenny, 2001
Photographs of sand, powders and liquids shaped into geometric forms by sound, showing vibration as a pattern-maker.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Occult Aether)
- 11
Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, 2002
Robert Lawlor’s illustrated introduction to sacred geometry and the proportions that recur in nature and in traditional architecture.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Occult Aether)
- 12
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas Kuhn, 1962
The classic account of how science moves in paradigm shifts rather than in a straight line. It explains why ideas on this list meet resistance.
Brendan cites it in The Grand Illusion (The Question of Consciousness; Science Ain’t Always Scientific; Psychokinesis And The Belief Effect)
The Grand Illusion devotes chapters to quantum nonlocality, the aether and the holographic universe, because Brendan argues that physics already points to consciousness being primary. The Consciousness Transition Model assumes that and asks what follows at death.
Brendan cites every book here. That does not mean he agrees with all of it.
All 27 books
Take one down to see why it is here and where to find it.
Is consciousness explained by quantum mechanics?
No. Some physicists argue quantum mechanics gives the observer a role and may be needed to explain the mind, and the idea is disputed. The books here set out that case. Roger Penrose’s Shadows of the Mind and Amit Goswami’s The Self-Aware Universe, on the consciousness page, take it furthest.
What is the holographic universe?
The proposal that reality is organised like a hologram, with the whole encoded in every part. Michael Talbot’s The Holographic Universe presents it for general readers, drawing on David Bohm’s physics and Karl Pribram’s brain research.
What is the aether?
A medium once thought to fill space and carry light, which mainstream physics dropped after 1887 but which some physicists have since argued for again. Harold Aspden’s Modern Aether Science is one such case.
What is sacred geometry?
The study of geometric proportions and forms, such as the circle, the spiral and the Platonic solids, that recur in nature and in traditional art and architecture, and that some traditions treat as meaningful. Robert Lawlor’s Sacred Geometry is a standard introduction.
What is the best book on quantum physics and consciousness?
For the physics, Rosenblum and Kuttner’s The Quantum Enigma. For the argument that consciousness is primary, Amit Goswami’s The Self-Aware Universe. For the connection to mysticism, Capra’s The Tao of Physics.
- The whole bookshelf
- Primacy of consciousness (glossary)
- Non-local consciousness (glossary)
- The best non-fiction books about the afterlife
- The best books on near-death experiences
- The best books on consciousness
- The best books on remote viewing
- The best books on mysticism
- The best books on chakras and the human aura
- The best books on Theosophy
- The best books on energy healing and the biofield
- The best parapsychology books
- The best books on lost civilisations, ancient mysteries and suppressed science
- The best books on plasma and the Electric Universe
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