This book tells two stories. One is the story of the emergence of a new and tremendously exciting branch of academic medicine. The second is the equally fascinating tale of why the whole subject of energy medicine has been so confusing and controversial in the past--why there is the paradox of widespread academic skepticism and myopia about therapeutic approaches based on concepts of energy, at the same time that these methods benefit many people.

Oschman has produced an exciting and ground-breaking work that can help readers resolve this confusion and controversy by offering approaches to the understanding of energy medicine from a systematic examination of hypotheses. His knowledge is immense and his presentation thorough. He covers the historical background of energy medicine, the story of human energy fields and the circuitry of the body, five views of the living matrix, acupuncture and related "energy medicine" therapies, homeopathy and vibrational medicines, structural integration methods, and the electromagnetic environment. His work and his words offer a template, a paradigmatic window, a lens with which to bring all the diverse aspects of the field into sharp focus and usher them into our conscious lives.