Leonardo

Supersensonics: The Spiritual Physics of All Vibrations from Zero to Infinity by Christopher
Hills
Review by: Richard I. Land
Leonardo, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter, 1979), p. 74
Published by: The MIT Press
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74
series of chapters he then examines the different techniques used
in studying how individuals and groups arrive at their own
understanding of place. For example, he provides mental maps
of varying degrees of complexity, statistical analyses of verbal
descriptions of locations and comparisons of intuitive distance
estimating. These chapters are principally a summary of the
researchmethods used, with comments, followed by conclusions
that at times are startlingly obvious. 'There is certainly a growing
awareness amongst many environmental decision-makers that
children have different requirements from adults.'
He concludes with a confusing chapter of suggestions, confus-
ing, that is to me, entitled Creating a Sense of Place. Here Canter
proposes a method to aid designers in their use of images. For
such an important aspect of the work of designers, what is needed
by them is not a technical method but imagination to understand
a particular environment, sensitivity to appreciate its historic
pattern and humility in expressing their own aesthetic values.
Supersensonics:The Spiritual Physics of All Vibrationsfrom Zero
to Infinity. Christopher Hills. Univ. of the Trees, Boulder Creek,
Calif., n.d. 607 pp., illus. Paper, $15.00 Reviewed by Richard I.
Land*
This large copiously illustrated and pleasantly reading book is
about divining. The author is convinced that events cannot
happen separately from consciousness and must always happen
within consciousness (p. 41). He therefore presents the physical
world subjectively, and discusses issues in terms of radiation that
results from vibrations that are associated with matter. The
physics discussed and the author's understanding of the work of
Einstein is only partly correct, making most of his discussions
misleading. His descriptions of divining equipment are detailed
but unscientific. Materials are only designated as 'wood',
'dielectric', 'magnet', but, for example, the kind of wood and if it
is dry or not is ignored: conductivity and measurements of
radiation response is lacking and strength of magnets is not
given, furthermore, the size of objects used can only be inferred
from the pictures provided.
The text, in three parts, blends together without a clear
introduction or conclusions. The first part, Beyond Phenomena:
The Science of Radiational Paraphysics, deals with The
Perception on Unseen Worlds, Energy, Einstein and
Consciousness, use of pendulums, fields, fluxes, apparatus of
'supersensonics' (including the Hills End-Fire Wave-Guide
Stimulator and Radiator-HEFIGAR) and Consciousness and
Light Energy-The New God-Cosmic Dust. This is followed
by chapters on Light and on the Philosophy of Science and
Supersensonic Detectors, the former with a section on color, a
mixture of fact and fancy, with some of the facts rather well-
presented, considering the context. Although selected statements
from a text can be misleading, let me offer a few wild assertions
from the first chapters. 'This book is ultimately about
mechanisms of perception (bringing messages from the environ-
ment), although we will be researching specific vibrations and
patterns of energy as they appear to our sensations to come from
objects and matter.' 'This volume is a first step because with it
you hold the key to the mystery of your own psychic processes
and, more important, those processes by which the evolutionary
intelligences are even now controlling your destiny as a human
being or as a Cosmic Being.' 'If we think we know it all or try to fit
nature into some preconceived set-up in our consciousness, we
will be automatically guaranteed failure in all that this volume
sets out to do. The attitude of the student must be open-minded,
which means forgetting entirely what you know already and
learning something new.'
I have long been fascinated by dowsing and diviner's rods. For
many years I have experimented with a simple hand held
pendulum. While Hills mentions the recent work of Louis
Turenne (1920's), he has neglected an earlier Frenchman of
considerable distinction in chemistry, color theory and divi-
nation, M.E. Chevreul (1786-1889), who 'was a determined
enemy ofcharlatanism in every form, and a complete sceptic as to
the "scientific" psychical research or spiritualism which had
*10 Trapelo Rd., Belmont, MA 02178, U.S.A.
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Books
begun in this time'. [cf. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition
(1910), vol. 6, p. 115, with referenceto De la baguette divinatoire,
et des tables tournantes (1864) by Chevreul]. It is a generally held
belief that divining comes under motor automatism-'a non-
reflex movement of a voluntary muscle, executed in the waking
state, but not controlled by ordinary waking consciousness' [cf.
above reference, vol. 3. p. 48], which was not considered by Hills.
What the cues are that a diviner uses has not been explained by
him or, to my knowledge, by anyone else.
I did not find this a useful book. In many instances Hills
presents incorrect technical information. There is no index and
there are no useful references;no quantitative data are offered;
proven information is refuted by incomplete subjective obser-
vations. I sense that the author wishes to help in the development
of a comfortable community of individuals who have a better
awareness of their environment and their interaction with it.
The Behaviourof Communicating.An Ethological Approach. W.
John Smith. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass., and
London, 1977. 545 pp., illus. ?13.65. Reviewed by Gerhard
Charles Rump**
Communication studies have, for the greaterpart, not taken into
account the results of comparative ethology. It is a fairly recent
development that an increasing number of scholars show
interest in this fundamental discipline. Until now they had to
read through a mass of material not directly linked to their field
of study-but this situation has changed with the appearance of
Smith's book, which is a most welcome contribution to human
knowledge.
In his book, Smith enlarges ethology's perspective on
communication (and, as I have said, vice versa) by shifting the
focus of attention away from motivation (what makes birds
sing?) to message, that is, the information shared by animals
through their displays (what information is made available to
other birds by song?). Also, the evolutionary processes
underlying the observed behavioural patterns of animal
communication are investigated.
Smith is a very good observer, and so the core of the book is
formed by very detailed analyses of observed communicative
displays and display repertoires together with a theoretical
discussion of them. A taxonomy and an interpretativeanalysis of
messages by formalized behaviour are also developed.
The most important chapter for the non-ethologist is Chapter
10 on Meanings and Functions, which centres on the pragmatic
dimension of communicative behaviour. When signals permit
the sharing of information, one becomes interested in the uses to
which this information is put. Analyzing information alone
provides one with a grasp of neither the meanings nor the
functions of displays. Only when dealing with meaning, with the
responses to signals, can one begin to understand the process of
communicating and 'its potential as a tool of interactional
behaviour'. And only if we have considered function, that is, the
'biologically significant' consequences of acts, 'can we under-
stand why particular meanings are important results of sharing
information-that is, how these responses enable the evolution
ofinterdependence betweenparticipantsengagedin the behaviour
of communicating'. Ethologists have so far understood the
responses as the crucial components of communicating, as there
is no communication without a response. From this view stems
the consequent lack of research into the information content of
displays. Smith wants to correct this situation, as he points out
that 'there is no single crucial component in communicating;
furthermore, 'the study of the responses and functions that
depend on displays is still fragmented'.
In this context, meaning is defined as follows: 'For a
communicator, the meaning of a display in a particular event is
the response he expects or intends to elicit by using it . . ., even
though the information provided by the display may sometimes
fail to have the foreseen effect.' The concept offunction is directly
linked to the concept of meaning, as the functions of displays
depend on their meanings to recipients: 'In the absence of any
** Ubierstrasse 135, D 5300 Bonn, Bad
Godesberg. Fed. Rep.
Ger.