Dimensions
133 x 198 x 20mm
DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
An adventure in science and imagination. While living among Peruvian Indians, anthropologist Jeremy Narby became intrigued by their claim that their phenomenal knowledge of plant and biochemistry was not gained by trial and error, but was communicated to them directly while under the influence of hallucinogens.
Despite his initial scepticism, Narby found himself engaged in an increasingly obsessive personal quest. Following intuitions and extraordinary coincidences, he research subjects as diverse as cutting-edge molecular biology, shamanism, neurology and ancient mythology. The evidence he collected led inexorably to the conclusion that the Indians' claims were literally true: to a consciousness prepared with drugs, specific biochemical knowledge could indeed be directly transmitted through DNA itself. Narby demonstrates that indigenous and ancient peoples, from the Aborigines to the Egyptians, have known for millennia the double helix structure - something conventional science only discovered in 1953.
A gripping investigation that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology and the limits of rationalism, 'The Cosmic Serpent' is new science of the most exhilarating kind.
