Humphrey analyzes the circumstances that can combine to produce what he calls "paranormal fundamentalism," an unshakable conviction that no matter what the evidence, "there must be something there." He traces this to our deep-seated attachment to mind-body dualism. Yet, in the end, it is not only the facts of science but the law of logic that rule out the truth of most paranormal claims.

Does this leave us without hope of consolation? Far from it. In a surprising twist, Humphrey concludes that the world as it is, governed by natural laws without the possibility of psychic powers or supernatural intervention, has been and is the best cradle for human development. Witty, philosophical, sometimes shocking, always absorbing, Leaps of Faith throws light - welcome or unwelcome - on many of our most precious ideas about our relationships with God, with each other, and with nature.