Download Details: Extracts of questions and answers from the book can be downloaded here in PDF format.
The full book can be obtained on wikipedia.
Book Summary:
In France in the 1850's, a man was invited to attend a séance conducted by the daughters of a friend.
At the séance, he then asked serious questions regarding the nature of life and the universe.
The replies coming back from the mediums were of such elevated thinking that he could not believe the information originated from the young girls, but rather from some unseen intelligent source or spirits.
Over a period of several years, these conversations were recorded in questions and answer format, finally being published using the pseudonym of Allan Kardec in 1857.
The name for the book was even recommended by one of the spirits signifying it is their book, not his.
Even today, the work is the basis of a religious or philosophical movement called Spiritism.
Electricity used for light and heat
In 1857, electricity was not used for lighting or heating so the following quote from the book is ahead of its time. Research in the 20th century discovered gravitational pull between some bodies in the outer solar system does create friction, heat and electricity.
Quote:
58. Are the planets furthest removed from the sun stinted in light and heat, the sun only appearing to them of the size of one of the fixed stars?
"Do you suppose that there are no other sources of light and heat than the sun? And do you count for nothing the action of electricity which, in certain worlds, plays a very much more important part than in your earth? Besides, how do you know that the beings of those worlds see in the same manner as you do, and with the aid of organs such as yours?"
This book is included on this site for several reasons:
The Spirits' book was published two years prior to The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.
The sister book to the Spirits book called The Mediums' Book, was published two years after The Origin of Species.
The Spirits' Book provids an alternative yet intelligent view of the universe without having to remove higher levels of existence.
The energy during this time may have created this coincidence and therefore the book may be of importance.
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