"The void that is paradoxically full” – that is likely the best description of the Akashic Field that anyone has been able to come up with.
     In terms of 19th century science, it was also known as the ether until the 1887 Michelson-Morley experiments appeared to lay that theory of the universe to rest once and for all. This, of course, was before the advent of 20th century quantum physics, which seemed to turn all previous knowledge upside-down and backwards.
     In a strange sense, all of the theories of science are also a quest for a religious basis of the universe. Is there form in the void, or is it all just random chaos, accidentally producing something of order and stability, once in a great while?
     The author gets right to the point in the very first chapter, asking whether there is a “TOE” – a theory of everything. Albert Einstein embarked on a quest for a unified field theory, which continued right up to his death in 1955. Laszlo says the best guess anyone has yet conceived, is that the entire universe is based upon information.
     One of the most puzzling aspects of reality is that of coherence – how the fundamental components of matter seem to “clump” in groups. All of the movements and rhythms of the cosmos appear to be harmonised, from the movement of galaxies right down to the smallest sub-atomic particle or charge.
     Thinking about an underlying field, and proving it actually exists are two different things, but now we are closer than ever before. In other words, using an overworked term – a paradigm-shift in science of immense proportions.
     Although the author is cautious in saying so, the results inevitably lead to the possibility of a new respectability for the previously scorned field of parapsychology, including such subjects as telepathy, dowsing, and even the survival of consciousness after death.
     It is now known that a particle can have an instantaneous effect on a second particle, no matter how far away it is in time and space. This “nonlocality” was demonstrated in experiments by Alain Aspect in the 1980’s, and repeated by Nicholas Gisin in 1997. A comparable relationship would be sympathetic magic in the world of the shaman or voodoo practitioner, whereby a curse is inflicted on a distant person by means of a doll stuck by pins. The converse is also possible through the medium of a healing prayer.
     The cosmic connection between galaxies and atoms, no matter how far apart, is what the author terms “in-formation” – a linkage in other words. This leads to the notion of an Akashic Field.
     A still larger question is “where did all this come from and where is it going?” Was the Big Bang that created our universe just a tiny part of a huge Metauniverse? There might have even been a whole succession of universes, each of which “in-formed” the one that followed.
     This presents a staggering vision of true infinity that our minds can barely grasp. The Intelligent Design theory immediately suggests itself. The theory of evolution out of blind chaos is merely another theory when we think about it carefully. Both, however, are not mutually exclusive. The author says the question is not design or evolution – “it is design for evolution.” Then too, what came before the Metauniverse? Is it ultimately like a set of Chinese boxes, each fitting in to another?
     The problem of the brain and consciousness is another intricate puzzle. A Nobel laureate biologist George Wald claimed that mind has existed always, rather than being a late development. Holograms enter at this point – it may be possible to access the Akashic Field by means of a form of selective resonance. In other words – tune in and turn on – something psychics have been employing for years to find out about crimes, health problems, etc.
     Just as there is a larger Metaverse, there may be a superconsciousness (or cosmic consciousness) that contains our own. Ultimately, this possibility very likely makes the existence of life after death something more than a misty supposition. Coherence in the sub quantum world is very strange in that particles seem to “know” which path they must follow.
     Then there is transpersonal communication between individuals in the macro world where individuals somehow know when an event is going to occur. Most of us lose this connection when we grow up, which is why telepathic shamans and trance mediums seem so strange to us.
     There is a huge amount of evidence that not only are such things as paranormal communication (with the dead or accessing vital data) possible, but it is scientifically backward to reject such evidence. Laszlo easily and ably presents the scientific case in terms everyone can understand. There is an extensive bibliography of technical journals for those who wish to know more.
     If anything the case has become even stronger in this new second edition. Thought provoking ideas about our very strange reality.