| As early as 1895, two years before the discovery of the electron in 1897, renowned spiritualist Charles Leadbeater claimed he could "see" the individual molecules of an atom. And so began his quest to document that "atomic ether," undertaken with coauthor Anne Besant. From the types of "hyper-meta-proto elemental matter" to the new elemental of "occultum," this curious 1919 novelty--complete with all the original diagrams, sketches, and charts--charts the subatomic world as Leadbeater saw it. A peculiar relic of the doctrine of Theosophy, the early-20th-century philosophy that sought, among other goals, to unify science and spirituality under one universal mode of thinking, this will intrigue readers of pop "science" and spirituality. British author CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER (1854-1934) was a practitioner of clairvoyance and a student of alternative spiritual and occult practices. His many books include Man Visible and Invisible and The Science of the Sacrament. British author ANNIE BESANT (1847-1933) also wrote The Ancient Wisdom (1897) and Death and After (1901). |
