Review of the book Glimpses of eternity: New near-death experiences examined, by A. S. Gibson

Abstract

The near-death experience (NDE) is gaining increasing scientific respectability and some scientists are beginning to study near-death accounts seriously. Arvin Gibson is one of these individuals. His sci entific credentials are impressive and have conditioned him to ap proach any problem with an open and questioning mind. He has an engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley and has worked for many years as a nuclear engineer. He has also done postgraduate work at the International School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, the University of California at Los Angeles, General Electric, and the Edison Electric Institute.Gibson's book follows in the footsteps of the work Craig Lundahl and I published on Mormon NDEs a decade ago Wid dison, 1983a, 1983b). Given the author's stated objectives, it is sur prising that he made no attempt to integrate this earlier research into his book. Though Glimpses of Eternity is written primarily for a Mormon or Latter Day Saints (LDS) audience, it is a rich source of NDE cases. In reading this book, it appears that the author was attempting to write to both an LDS lay audience and a scientific or professional audience. It is difficult to write for both in the same volume.