Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert Sheldrake (born June 28, 1942) is an English biological scientist. In his works A New Science of Life and The Presence of the Past he has put forth his theory of morphic resonance, postulating that there is a collective memory in nature. Habits will become easier in subsequent generations, Sheldrake argues. Sheldrake has argued that acquired characteristics may be inherited. He points out that Charles Darwin did believe in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, contrary to how Darwin is often portrayed. In a later work, "Seven Experiments that Could Change the World" (1994: Fourth Estate) he presents the general public with seven experiments that they could do which challenge conventional views of reality, such as experiments to find out whether pets know when their owners are coming home or whether we have a sense of being stared at. Rupert Sheldrake is married to voice therapist Jill Purce. They have two sons - biologist Merlin Sheldrake, who has written a book on fungi called "Entangled Life", and musician Cosmo Sheldrake.