A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Psychologist Dacher Keltner explores awe through research, stories, art, music, nature, moral courage, collective movement, birth, and death. He shows how encounters with what feels larger than the self can alter attention, soften self-focus, and deepen connection—without requiring readers to begin with religious belief.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
Awe is one of the most accessible meeting places between spiritual language, embodied experience, and psychological research. This book gives travelers a concrete way to explore wonder before deciding whether to interpret it as emotion, spirituality, encounter, or some combination. It also makes the shelf more usable for people who are curious but wary of metaphysical claims.
Good starting place if…
You want a research-grounded exploration of wonder in nature, music, community, courage, and ordinary life—or a spiritual doorway that does not require religious language.
Know before you begin…
The science of awe can describe patterns in experience, attention, behavior, and the body; it does not determine the ultimate meaning or source of awe. Keltner writes with personal warmth and broad cultural examples, but one psychological framework cannot exhaust how traditions interpret reverence, transcendence, terror, or the sublime.