A repository of ideas

A book that challenges many scientific beliefs


Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex (NASA free image) -- for web page

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex (NASA free re-use image)


Norm Wheatley, a wise man and deep thinker who lives in Canberra, wrote a book titled Matter of Commonsense and published it in hard copy in 1993.

Photo of Norm Wheatley_i_w
We think this book is too revolutionary to be left on the bookshelf. We therefore suggested to Norm that it be re-published as a PDF e-book. He agreed to make it available under an open content licence (Creative Commons CC-BY-3.0).

Matter of Commonsense is a new explanation of what the universe consists of, how it works, and our role in it.

It is essentially an optimistic, constructive, accessible book that will reward the effort of reading it, stimulating much thought and enhancing the reader's views of the world and every thing in it.

The author observes:

"We are what we make of our physical and philosophical intake. We have no choice of our initial intake because our genes, our parents, and the environment provide the initial nourishment for our minds and bodies without consulting us. But some how we make something of it. We react and metabolise the food and information and in that sense we make ourselves.

From the beginning we are the products of our sensations but — to the extent that our will power becomes effective — we have the choice of shaping ourselves with either commonsense or common nonsense.

The initial task of commonsense is to distinguish differences between things and the most basic of all distinctions is that between wholesome nourishment and noxious fare, both physical and mental."

Matter of Commonsense defines the fundamental difference between the sole physical world and the countless worlds we are able to conjure up in our imagination. It explains the role of commonsense in learning to distinguish the one from the others and in relating them intelligently.

It also traces the disastrous confusion produced by our traditional failure to understand the proper distinction and relationship between tangible objects and their intangible relationships. This leads Norm to postulate that the Theory of Relativity is a modern expression of the religious dogma established by ancient mythology. He systematically and cheerfully debunks it.

Its main message is that commonsense can produce the intelligence required for us to live in harmony with the universe.

View/download the free PDF of the 2012 edition and read on!

You can contact Norm through us.