Science as a Spiritual Practice (review)

Progress, architectural historian Lisa D. Schrenk gives us a profusely illustrated book on one Fair that is both informative to read and fun to examine. A panel of distinguished architects gathered in the late 1920s to plan the look of Chicago’s 1933–34 World’s Fair, but its leader, Paul D. Cret, obviously wanted to borrow as much as possible from the look of the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. That fair, which showcased modern architecture and its juxtaposition of simplified geometric forms and smoothly figurative decoration, gave the name “Art Deco” to that style. The fair was held on land beside windy Lake Michigan. Beyond a mammoth Hall of Science decorated with figurative sculpture, many of the buildings were big corporate sheds with three-dimensional sans-serif lettering announcing the company name or building’s purpose. Buildings were painted in a vibrant color palette included deep greens and rich reds, and at night a “Scintillator” projected light into grand clouds of mist produced by fountains. Called “A Century of Progress,” the 1933–34 Fair was determined to establish an architectural identity well out of the shadow of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago 40 years before. But 1933 was in the midst of the 20th century’s worst economic depression, so economy of means was important. Manufacturers showcased new construction materials in the Vinylite House, the Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel House and the porcelainenameled metal wall panels of the the shadows. We are the mentally ill suffering from a mass psychosis” (p. 27). Science as a Spiritual Practice is a slim book at just 155 pages. It is arranged in three sections. The first section, Beyond Materialism, deals with the problems and untenability of materialism and to a lesser extent physicalism. Barušs suggests that if scientists would seek self-transformation, they would have a much better chance of understanding reality. The second section, Access to Inner Knowledge, argues that through states of altered consciousness, brought about by various means such as meditation, drug ingestion or various other spiritual practices, scientists could gain insights to the problems they are trying to solve via their newly realized inner knowledge. The third section, Seeking Transcendence, looks at how by engaging in scientific practice, especially mathematical work, the practitioner may bring about transcendence. Barušs discusses the claims of Franklin Wolff to having achieved transcendence as well as Wolff’s philosophy. With the exception of parts of the third section, when the discussion becomes a little complicated by rather arcane mathematical concepts, the book is easy to read and understand. I found Barušs’ constant use of “her” extremely irritating; this first-wave feminist convention, effective as it was at the time, is now passé. The use of the third person pronoun “their” or “they” draws far less attention to the actual writing style. The book has a good index and exceptionally comprehensive bibliography and reference section. This brings me to my main criticism of the book, which is its superficial treatment of a vast amount of material including DMT drugs, channeling (mediumship), teleportation, enlightenment, remote viewing, mystical states, trances, savants and so on. It is not that Barušs is necessarily wrong in his presentation of these phenomena, nor that he is flippant in their treatment; it is simply that in a book of this size it is impossible to discuss any of them in depth. The book should have been at least twice the size and concentrated in detail on only a few of the many possible aspects associated with achieving transcendence. This would have presented a more convincing, solid case for science and the spiritual. After all, this book is pitched partly at scientists who generally dismiss superficial “popular” writing out of hand. Barušs is widely read and appears highly knowledgeable about his subject, Armaco-Ferro Enamel Frameless House. The Rostone House was built from synthetic stone made of dust and detritus from Indiana limestone quarries. An octagonal glass-walled House of the Future was suspended from a central core, borrowing much from Buckminster Fuller’s unbuilt Dymaxion home design. Fuller’s house was not exhibited, but his ovoid Dymaxion car was. A long barroom on the fairgrounds, stocked with Schweppes beverages, was nicknamed “the doodlebug” for its similar shape. Considered too individualistic for committee work, Frank Lloyd Wright and Norman Bel Geddes were excluded from designing buildings for the Fair, but both published opinions and alternatives in architectural journals. In this enjoyable book, Schrenk details the influence of the Fair on New York’s World’s Fair 5 years later. I would have liked her to trace more influences of the Chicago event upon the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair, too.