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In September 1981 the journal Nature ran an editorial about a new book by a Cambridge-trained biochemist under the headline “A book for burning?”. The book was A New Science of Life, and its author, Rupert Sheldrake, born in Newark-on-Trent in 1942, had written much of it while living at a Christian ashram in southern India. Its idea, morphic resonance, holds that nature has a kind of memory, and he has spent four decades testing and defending it: in experiments with dogs who seem to know when their owners are coming home, in trials on the sense of being stared at, and in The Science Delusion, his challenge to what he calls the dogmas of modern science. Most scientists reject the theory, and the debate is part of every book. This guide covers his nine key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 9 key books · 1981–2019 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Rupert Sheldrake has published nine books under his own name. The best known are A New Science of Life (1981), which introduced morphic resonance, Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999) and The Science Delusion (2012), published in the US as Science Set Free. Start with The Science Delusion; the sections below explain how the books connect and why mainstream science rejects his central idea.
Where to Start with Rupert Sheldrake
If you want his overall argument in one book
→ The Science Delusion (2012) — the ten “dogmas” of science turned into questions.
If you want the original theory
→ A New Science of Life (1981) — the 1981 book that introduced morphic resonance.
If you want animals and experiments
→ Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999) — the dog Jaytee and the surveys of pet owners.
If you want the spiritual side
→ Science and Spiritual Practices (2017) — practices examined in the light of research.
9 Rupert Sheldrake Books, in Order
A New Science of Life
The book that introduced morphic resonance: the hypothesis that the forms and behaviour of living things are shaped by fields carrying a kind of memory from earlier members of the same kind. Sheldrake wrote it while living at Bede Griffiths’ ashram in Tamil Nadu. John Maddox, editor of Nature, called it “an exercise in pseudo-science”. It was reissued in 2009, and in the US as Morphic Resonance.
The Presence of the Past
A fuller version of the theory, extended from biology to nature as a whole: the idea that the regularities of the world are less like fixed laws and more like habits that build up over time. A new edition appeared in 2012.
The Rebirth of Nature
As the subtitle suggests, a book about science, God and the natural world, written in the decade after A New Science of Life. It was published in London in 1990 and in the US the following year.
Seven Experiments That Could Change the World
A set of low-cost experiments readers can run themselves, among them whether pets know when their owners are coming home and whether people can tell when they are being stared at — the subjects of his next two books. It was named Book of the Year by the British Institute for Social Inventions in 1994; a new edition followed in 2002.
Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home
Built on surveys of pet owners and on filmed trials with Jaytee, a terrier who appeared to wait at the window when his owner, Pam Smart, set off for home. The psychologist Richard Wiseman ran his own tests with Jaytee and concluded the dog was not psychic. A new edition appeared in 2011.
The Sense of Being Stared At
His case that the mind extends beyond the brain, starting from the common feeling of being watched from behind. He reports staring experiments, including online tests with tens of thousands of trials, alongside other kinds of apparent telepathy. A new edition appeared in 2013.
The Science Delusion
Ten assumptions of modern science, among them that nature is mechanical and that the laws of nature are fixed, each turned into an open question and examined in its own chapter. In the US it was published as Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery. The Scientific and Medical Network named it Book of the Year in 2012, and his TEDx talk on it in January 2013 became the subject of a public dispute with TED.
Science and Spiritual Practices
A look at a series of spiritual practices and at what scientific research says about their effects on body, brain and health, written for religious and non-religious readers alike.
Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work
The follow-up to Science and Spiritual Practices, applying the same approach to a further set of practices and the experiences people report from them. It is his most recent book under his own name.
In What Order to Read Rupert Sheldrake
The books form one long argument. A New Science of Life and The Presence of the Past set out the theory; Seven Experiments, Dogs That Know and The Sense of Being Stared At are the experimental programme; The Science Delusion sums up his case against mainstream assumptions; and the last two turn to spiritual practice.
Publication order is the clearest way to see the theory develop, but the early books are the most technical. Most readers find it easier to start with The Science Delusion, which refers back to the earlier work, and then go back to A New Science of Life for the original hypothesis and the reaction to it.
A reading path
1. The Science Delusion (2012)
2. A New Science of Life (1981)
3. Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999)
4. The Sense of Being Stared At (2003)
5. Science and Spiritual Practices (2017)
Everything Else Rupert Sheldrake Published
Beyond the 9 key books: 5 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Co-written books
5
5 books · 1992–2016
- 1992Trialogues at the Edge of the Westconversations with the mathematician Ralph Abraham and the writer Terence McKenna
- 1996Natural Gracedialogues on science and spirituality with the theologian Matthew Fox
- 1996The Physics of Angelsa second book of dialogues with Matthew Fox
- 2015Boy’s Best Frienda children’s book written with Kate Banks
- 2016Arguing Sciencea written debate with the sceptic Michael Shermer
The years · 1942–2012
Quick facts about Rupert Sheldrake
- Known for
- Rupert Sheldrake is known for the theory of morphic resonance, the idea that nature has a kind of memory, which he has defended against mainstream scientific rejection since 1981.
- 1942
- Born in Newark-on-Trent
- 1968
- PhD in biochemistry, Cambridge
- 1999
- Dogs That Know
- Born
- 28 June 1942, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
- Education
- Biology and biochemistry at Clare College, Cambridge; a year at Harvard (1964); PhD in biochemistry, Cambridge (1968)
- Research
- Fellow of Clare College and Royal Society Rosenheim Research Fellow; principal plant physiologist at ICRISAT, India, 1974–1978
- Later posts
- Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project, Trinity College, Cambridge (2005–2010); fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences
- Family
- Married to Jill Purce; their sons are the biologist Merlin Sheldrake and the musician Cosmo Sheldrake
- Key idea
- Morphic resonance: a proposed memory in nature passed on through morphic fields
The red mark is 1981: A New Science of Life, the book that introduced morphic resonance.
How Rupert Sheldrake Writes: Questions Instead of Assumptions
Sheldrake writes as a trained scientist addressing general readers. His recurring move is to take something most scientists treat as settled — that the laws of nature are fixed, that memory is stored in the brain, that minds stay inside heads — and restate it as a question that could be tested. The Science Delusion is built entirely this way, one chapter per assumption.
From the 1990s on, the books lean on experiments that readers can follow or repeat: surveys of pet owners, filmed trials with a dog, staring tests online, telephone telepathy trials. He reports hit rates against chance in detail, and Seven Experiments That Could Change the World is written as a do-it-yourself guide.
The criticism is part of the writing. He quotes his opponents, from John Maddox to Richard Wiseman, and replies to them on the page; Arguing Science is an entire book of exchanges with the sceptic Michael Shermer. In the later books on spiritual practice he takes the same approach to religion, asking what research says about the effects of spiritual practices on body, brain and health.
Watch
Rupert Sheldrake on Morphic Resonance and Consciousness
Rick Archer interviews Rupert Sheldrake about morphic resonance, consciousness and panentheism for the Buddha at the Gas Pump podcast, posted in November 2018. From the official Buddha at the Gas Pump® channel.
Frequently asked questions about Rupert Sheldrake’s books
How many books has Rupert Sheldrake written?
Nine under his own name, from A New Science of Life (1981) to Ways to Go Beyond (2019), all listed on this page. He has also co-written five further books, with Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna, Matthew Fox, Kate Banks and Michael Shermer.
What are Rupert Sheldrake’s books in order?
A New Science of Life (1981), The Presence of the Past (1988), The Rebirth of Nature (1990), Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994), Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999), The Sense of Being Stared At (2003), The Science Delusion (2012), Science and Spiritual Practices (2017) and Ways to Go Beyond (2019).
Where should I start with Rupert Sheldrake?
With The Science Delusion (2012), which gathers his argument in one book and refers back to the earlier work. If you would rather begin with the original theory, read A New Science of Life (1981).
What is Rupert Sheldrake’s most famous book?
A New Science of Life (1981), which introduced morphic resonance and drew the “A book for burning?” editorial in Nature. Among general readers Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999) and The Science Delusion (2012) are also widely read.
What is morphic resonance?
Sheldrake’s hypothesis that living things, and nature more broadly, inherit a kind of memory from earlier similar forms through what he calls morphic fields, so that patterns become easier to repeat the more often they have happened. In his own phrase, the so-called laws of nature are “more like habits”.
Why do scientists reject morphic resonance, and why was his TEDx talk removed?
Mainstream science does not accept morphic resonance as an established effect; critics say it lacks a mechanism and that the supporting evidence does not hold up. In September 1981 John Maddox, editor of Nature, published the editorial “A book for burning?”, calling A New Science of Life “an exercise in pseudo-science”. In March 2013 TED took Sheldrake’s January talk at TEDxWhitechapel off the TEDx YouTube channel after its science board said it contained factual errors, and reposted it on the TED blog with a note inviting discussion. TED said it was not censoring the talk; Sheldrake published a reply on the same page.
What is the difference between The Science Delusion and Science Set Free?
None in substance: Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery is the US title of The Science Delusion, both published in 2012. Likewise A New Science of Life appeared in the US as Morphic Resonance.
Is Rupert Sheldrake related to Merlin Sheldrake?
Yes. The biologist Merlin Sheldrake, author of Entangled Life, is his son; his other son is the musician Cosmo Sheldrake. See the guide to Merlin Sheldrake’s books.
Where did Rupert Sheldrake write A New Science of Life?
Largely in India, at the Christian ashram of Father Bede Griffiths in Tamil Nadu, where he lived for about a year and a half after his years as a plant physiologist at ICRISAT near Hyderabad.
Is Rupert Sheldrake still alive?
Yes. He was born on 28 June 1942 in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. His most recent book under his own name is Ways to Go Beyond (2019).
Footnotes
- Rupert Sheldrake — Wikipedia
- Rupert Sheldrake — Psi Encyclopedia (Society for Psychical Research)
- Scientific Heretic Rupert Sheldrake on Morphic Fields, Psychic Dogs and Other Mysteries — Scientific American
- Open for discussion: Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake — TED Blog, 2013
- The Science Delusion — sheldrake.org
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“In its most general sense this hypothesis implies that the so-called laws of nature are more like habits.”
— Rupert Sheldrake, interview with John Horgan, Scientific American
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