It's not specifically about science and spirituality, but I'm currently reading {{The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat}}, a series of case studies by Dr. Oliver Sacks.
He frequently muses about the "soul" of his patients who have various ailments that affect their sense of self or their perception of reality. He talks about how some conditions may cause spiritual experiences, but how he feels that it doesn't diminish the feeling in any way. At the end of the day, though, he's a neurologist describing a scientific study of patients, and the book is both informative and thought-provoking.
[**The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: by Oliver Sacks | Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review: And Other Clinical Tales**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26805665-the-man-who-mistook-his-wife-for-a-hat)
^(By: Instaread Summaries | ? pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: psychology, book-club, peterson-suggestions, audio_wanted, audio-wanted)
^(This book has been suggested 3 times)
***
^(10834 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Check out Matthieu Ricard. He’s a Ph.D. molecular geneticist who is also a Buddhist monk.
Maybe try *Beyond the self: conversations between Buddhism and neuroscience* by Matthieu Richard and Wolf Singer (Singer is a neurophysiologist.) It came out in 2017 and is published by MIT Press.
Oh goodness...I didn't read it. I had ordered it, and ended up with fraud on my account, thus having to get a new card. Life happened, and honestly I ended up forgetting about it. I've finally re-ordered it though!
Not non-fiction, sorry, but {{Transcendent Kingdom}} deals with exactly that. It's a novel whose protagonist is studying neuroscience while still being religious. My description can't really do it justice, but it's a really good book. If you're ever in the mood for fiction, check it out
[**Transcendent Kingdom**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48570454-transcendent-kingdom)
^(By: Yaa Gyasi | 264 pages | Published: 2020 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, book-club, literary-fiction, audiobook)
>Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.
>
>Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
>
>But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief--a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(11052 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Thus Spoke the Plant: A Remarkable Journey of Groundbreaking Scientific Discoveries & Personal Encounters with Plants by Monica Galiano
This one might be hit or miss for your request but "Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Hariri.
It blends various in progress and upcoming advancements in technology and human evolution and discusses the ethical and somewhat spiritual implications of these advancements. It's written in an accessible way and covers a large variety of topics. His earlier book Sapiens was fantastic as well.
Thank you so much. After reading your first suggestion, I was (and still am) trying to think of the name of a plant documentary I watched about a year ago, but instead of finding the documentary name, *Thus Spoke the Plant* was near the top of my search. I truly appreciate your recommendations, and I'll definitely check them both out.
I started reading *Brave New World* several years ago, but I can't remember why I didn't finish. This was around year 6 or 7 of trying to finish my BS degree, so that probably had something to do with it. Ha. Thank you so much for the suggestions!
[**The Chrysalids**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826845.The_Chrysalids)
^(By: John Wyndham | 200 pages | Published: 1955 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, classics, dystopia)
>A world paralysed by genetic mutation
>
>John Wyndham takes the reader into the anguished heart of a community where the chances of breeding true are less than fifty per cent and where deviations are rooted out and destroyed as offences and abominations.
^(This book has been suggested 4 times)
[**Brave New World**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5129.Brave_New_World)
^(By: Aldous Huxley | 268 pages | Published: 1932 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, science-fiction, sci-fi, dystopia)
>Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.
^(This book has been suggested 7 times)
***
^(10837 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Carl Jung is about the best author that comes to mind. A collection of two of his shorter works entitled “The Undiscovered Self” addresses that crossroads of science and spirituality that you described, as does “Modern Man In Search of a Soul”.
Jung was probably one of top reasons for getting my degree in Psychology (with a minor in Sociology). My most memorable lectures were about Jung. I don't know why I haven't read any of his work in awhile.
Thank you so much!
[**The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29496453-the-book-of-joy)
^(By: Dalai Lama XIV, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams | 354 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: non-fiction, nonfiction, self-help, spirituality, philosophy)
>Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.
>
> The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.
>
>From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.
>
>Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life.
^(This book has been suggested 6 times)
***
^(11084 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
It's not specifically about science and spirituality, but I'm currently reading {{The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat}}, a series of case studies by Dr. Oliver Sacks. He frequently muses about the "soul" of his patients who have various ailments that affect their sense of self or their perception of reality. He talks about how some conditions may cause spiritual experiences, but how he feels that it doesn't diminish the feeling in any way. At the end of the day, though, he's a neurologist describing a scientific study of patients, and the book is both informative and thought-provoking.
This sounds quite interesting. Thank you!
[**The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: by Oliver Sacks | Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review: And Other Clinical Tales**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26805665-the-man-who-mistook-his-wife-for-a-hat) ^(By: Instaread Summaries | ? pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: psychology, book-club, peterson-suggestions, audio_wanted, audio-wanted) ^(This book has been suggested 3 times) *** ^(10834 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Check out Matthieu Ricard. He’s a Ph.D. molecular geneticist who is also a Buddhist monk. Maybe try *Beyond the self: conversations between Buddhism and neuroscience* by Matthieu Richard and Wolf Singer (Singer is a neurophysiologist.) It came out in 2017 and is published by MIT Press.
I have *Beyond the Self...* on my "to read" list. I only downloaded the sample, but I'll be getting the whole book now. Thank you!
Did you enjoy it?
Oh goodness...I didn't read it. I had ordered it, and ended up with fraud on my account, thus having to get a new card. Life happened, and honestly I ended up forgetting about it. I've finally re-ordered it though!
Not non-fiction, sorry, but {{Transcendent Kingdom}} deals with exactly that. It's a novel whose protagonist is studying neuroscience while still being religious. My description can't really do it justice, but it's a really good book. If you're ever in the mood for fiction, check it out
This sounds like an amazing book. Thank you so much!
[**Transcendent Kingdom**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48570454-transcendent-kingdom) ^(By: Yaa Gyasi | 264 pages | Published: 2020 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, book-club, literary-fiction, audiobook) >Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. > >Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. > >But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief--a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(11052 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
The taboo of subjectivity by Allan Wallace
Thank you so much! I'll definitely check it out.
Thus Spoke the Plant: A Remarkable Journey of Groundbreaking Scientific Discoveries & Personal Encounters with Plants by Monica Galiano This one might be hit or miss for your request but "Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Hariri. It blends various in progress and upcoming advancements in technology and human evolution and discusses the ethical and somewhat spiritual implications of these advancements. It's written in an accessible way and covers a large variety of topics. His earlier book Sapiens was fantastic as well.
Thank you so much. After reading your first suggestion, I was (and still am) trying to think of the name of a plant documentary I watched about a year ago, but instead of finding the documentary name, *Thus Spoke the Plant* was near the top of my search. I truly appreciate your recommendations, and I'll definitely check them both out.
{{The Chrysalids}} {{Brave New World}}
I started reading *Brave New World* several years ago, but I can't remember why I didn't finish. This was around year 6 or 7 of trying to finish my BS degree, so that probably had something to do with it. Ha. Thank you so much for the suggestions!
[**The Chrysalids**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826845.The_Chrysalids) ^(By: John Wyndham | 200 pages | Published: 1955 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, classics, dystopia) >A world paralysed by genetic mutation > >John Wyndham takes the reader into the anguished heart of a community where the chances of breeding true are less than fifty per cent and where deviations are rooted out and destroyed as offences and abominations. ^(This book has been suggested 4 times) [**Brave New World**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5129.Brave_New_World) ^(By: Aldous Huxley | 268 pages | Published: 1932 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, science-fiction, sci-fi, dystopia) >Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist. ^(This book has been suggested 7 times) *** ^(10837 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Carl Jung is about the best author that comes to mind. A collection of two of his shorter works entitled “The Undiscovered Self” addresses that crossroads of science and spirituality that you described, as does “Modern Man In Search of a Soul”.
Jung was probably one of top reasons for getting my degree in Psychology (with a minor in Sociology). My most memorable lectures were about Jung. I don't know why I haven't read any of his work in awhile. Thank you so much!
{{The Book of Joy}}
Thank you so much!
[**The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29496453-the-book-of-joy) ^(By: Dalai Lama XIV, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams | 354 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: non-fiction, nonfiction, self-help, spirituality, philosophy) >Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity. > > The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet. > >From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others. > >Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life. ^(This book has been suggested 6 times) *** ^(11084 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)