text: I picked up this volume because its title suggested that it would encourage hands-on science activities     that are essential to good teaching and effective learning. Unfortunately, I discovered on reading it that     the author combines a deep antagonism for the scientific "establishment" with credulity for numerous     fringe ideas. The first experiment that he suggests tests the hypothesis that your pet uses psychic powers     to tell when you'll be home for dinner! Sheldrake frequently presents anecdotes as "evidence". The "do     it yourself" promise of the title is broken for the reader who doesn't intend to begin raising homing     pidgeons or doesn't happen to work in a laboratory capable of measuring the physical constants (such     as the speed of light) to nine significant figures. Far too few cautions about the pitfalls of psychic     research are given (in chapters about the feeling of being stared at, or "feeling" the touch of a severed     limb). Despite the nearly fatal flaws of the book, I liked a part of its message, that important science     can still be done by amateurs. That's about the only aspect of this book that is commendable
  