Over four decades ago in the 1960s an imaginative and creative group of scientists in the San Francisco Bay Area of California began an exploration into parapsychology and the dimensions of consciousness. They became known as the Parapsychology Research Group. To celebrate their 25th Anniversary, Beverley Kane, Dean Brown and Jean Millay edited the book "Silver Threads." The ideas and concepts kept growing and maturing. This led Dr. Millay to produce a second updated book "Radiant Minds," a product of love, that goes beyond the original book and gives you the insights into how the quest of these original scientists to explore the dimensions of consciousness has evolved in the subsequent years. The book is a unique anthology of a group of mostly scientists as they form a community of seekers into the unknown -- each person on his/her own journey. As they interact with one another in this diverse community, world views change. Samples of the work and insights of over fifty people are outlined in this major undertaking of 670 pages. In addition to a prologue, foreword, introduction, and glossary, there are a dozen sections that cover perception, intention, belief systems, the chemical and electrical aspects of mind and brain/body, mathematical models, physics, spirit, consciousness. education, parapsychology, and global mind.

The authors in this book are ones who question the concepts that underlie today's science. For example, the word "energy" is used both by scientists and psychic healers, but when did the word "energy" come into the physicists' lexicon? Theoretical physicist, Saul-Paul Sirag, explored this question. Modern physics really started with Newton's equations. However, Newton never used the word "energy." It also wasn't used in early 1800's physics text books. In fact "energy" wasn't first used in the physics context at all., It was first used in the personal freedom context and romantic context. In the book Saul-Paul writes an often humorous account of how "energy" evolved into a term used in both modern physics and in spiritual healing, and the difference between the two.

Why has the research in the field of parapsychology received so little acceptance over the past decades? Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove, who received his PhD in Parapsychology from the University of California in Berkeley, reflects on this phenomena. What is the cause for this lack of social acceptance? The data in parapsychology are in fact stronger than for many other well accepted findings in the behavioral sciences and medicine --- for example, in the use of aspirin for preventing cardiovascular events. Dr Mishlove believes the non-acceptance is best understood in sociological and psychological terms rather than strict scientific considerations.

There are fears that the public (including scientists) may have. Do you want someone to "read your mind" or sense hidden aspects of yourself? Dr. Mishlove goes on to provide a list of fourteen reasons where individuals might encounter fear when exposed to parapsychology research. We are entering a research area that could change your belief system. The existence of precognition is a serious problem for contemporary science. Yet, Dr. Elizabeth Rauscher and Russell Targ consider the data supporting the existence of precognition to be overwhelming. They present a mathematical model to account for the phenomena. What impact will this have upon those who interpret their experiences in terms of linear time?