Editorial Review

First published in 1975, Read more

Reviews (61)

an organic aproach to understanding physics and the universe
This is a great book.My husband is an Engineering student.This book helped me understand a lot of the things he was learning about and trying to talk to me about from his day in class.It covers basic concepts like Newtonian/Classical Physics very clearly to help prepare the reader for the leaps away from classical physics and into the much more abstract concepts of unity and movement in the universe that come into play after Einstein.This book was very helpful to me in that I find the mathematical approach to the sciences tedious so I never got into this that much...I have a much more organic way of approaching learning.I was an art history major in collage and am used to learning about large concepts then exploring how they relate to things.The mathematical approach just never appealed to me.So I missed out a lot on just how cool physics is!I'm grateful to have a book that takes a comprehensive approach and made this information so accessible.I have a background in Zen, Buddhism, Budo, Christianity, and some Native American spirituality and have felt a connection between them all.I also grew up, oddly enough, rather synical so a book that takes a scientific approach to mystical understanding is just a phenomenal idea to me!This book along with "The Portable world Bible", and actively taking part in art, meditation, martial arts training, and ceremony really helped me find those connections and come to a much fuller level of appreciation for life and the physics within it.I got a great deal out of this book, not only in understanding science and my husband a bit better but in understanding the unity and movement of the nonphysical universe as well.All in all I give this book two big thumbs up!

Good Overview of History of Physics and Eastern Religions
For the college freshman who's struggling through classes in physics and philosophy, this is a book for you.I haven't read another book that summarizes the history of Western thoughts better, from Aristotle to Einstein.Also, Capra is the first author who finally cleared up for me all the different kinds of Buddhism and the reason behind the multiple gods in Hinduism.Capra is obviously a brilliant lecturer who has done an exhaustive analyses of the history of Western/Eastern philosophies as well as Phyics.His work is easy to read and follow, and Capra guides the reader through his very enjoyable and informative arguments on how the advanced physics and eastern thoughts converge at the most abstract conceptual level.
A broader perspective for a new path in life
Essentially the trailhead for me on my best and happiest path to an understanding of life.After reading the "Tao of...", I knew I wanted a consilience between all religions, science and philosophical thought.Now after more than a decade, thanks to Capra I have found that joy and peace.With my understanding now, there are no conflicts, no frustrations, even with the bipolar hypocracies of Christian beliefs.I highly recommend that all begin their Tao and as with Joseph Campbell, "find their Bliss." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern - General    2. Mysticism    3. Philosophy    4. Philosophy & Social Aspects    5. Physics    6. Physics (General)    7. Science    8. Taoism    9. Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects   

Reviews (16)

Great find
Found this today at the annual library sale for $2 and this was right after showing my class the movie "Mind Walk" which is based on the book. Talk about coincidence! I have "The Web of Life".

Excellent questioning of commonplace ideas!
The text contains criticism on several commonly accepted concepts, from drugs advertising to public health to physics (almost a summary of The Tao of Physics) to agriculture to nuclear power, all extremely relevant topics to anyone.
Important messages
I think Fritjof Capra is making some very important observations in this book. Through his observations, the author states that Western Civilization is gradually approaching the climax of a major turning point in its evolution. He suggests that the cause of this is in our consciousness, a certain way we are seeing and understanding our experiences. This is leading to many of our present day environmental, social, political, and financial crises. We are all sitting on a treebranch that is gradually getting too heavy. Many modern theorists try to explain this phenomena but Capra articulates this in a way that many people can understand. This book as well as "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato do a very fine job in trying to open the public eye to these issues. Both of these books are highly recommended for people who want to understand things from a wider, larger, and deeper perspective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Philosophy    3. Philosophy & Social Aspects    4. Physics    5. Science    6. Social aspects    7. Body, Mind & Spirit / New Age   

Reviews (33)

A wealth of understanding
having read Capra's book hidden connections I really appreciated going back and reading the web of life (as i should have). the book is an all around treatise of the shift of paradigm in science, examples of how this new scientific understanding is found in every discipline and where does all this take us (or should). anyone with an interest in networks, systems thinking, ecology should at least look briefly through the book.

A deeply flawed book, that nonetheless has value
I like this book a great deal. It is a great brief introduction to systems thinking. I have used it as a text in a graduate course in sustainability. That said, it is highly problematic: the sections on thermodynamics are based on a deep misinterpretation of the second law of thermodynamics and the concept of entropy. The book needs to be read very carefully, and the sections describing the second law of thermodynamics would be best skipped completely.
"Web of Life" is a web of confusion for the average reader
Fritjof Capra's "The Web of Life" is a wealth of erudite thoughts and ideas about how we've been looking at the world entirely in the wrong way.Capra seeks to deconstruct our current, discrete worldview by basically asking "why?" over and over again, trying to get more exact answers from inexact sciences; this much I was able to pull from the book.He asserts that current ideas of scientific method will never be able to answer the questions they were develop to answer, because they treat everything as separate, individual, unchanging elements of life, the universe, everything, etc.
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Subjects:  1. Biological systems    2. General    3. Life (Biology)    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. System theory    8. Science / General   

Reviews (6)

A Disorganized Jumble Of Disconnected Thoughts.
Please, please, do yourself a favor and don't buy this book.I was so excited to read it, then after 50 pages, I was so excited to throw it away.I just threw it in the trash. It is obne of the best ones
I need to find this book of Capra in spanish. Would you please help me? Thanks,

Useful introduction to systems thinking
I was delighted by the initial sections of the book - the first time I have seen 'systems thinking' properly defined, and also a very useful sketch of the historical development of these ideas. I will therefore be recommending it to my students - it really is a useful book. But do I agree with it? I think the whole thesis falls down in the application to ecosystems; here the evidence gets really shaky and I wasn't convinced. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biological systems    2. General    3. Life (Biology)    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. System theory    8. Science / General   

Reviews (2)

This is an eye opening book
As in Capra's other books, he provides a easy to understand and compelling look at living systems. In this book he takes a substantial leap forward in providing a broad based look at the evolution of the field and the impact on systems that we are now experiencing in our world. He also provides examples and references to successful examples of what we can do if we have the will to do so. What a powerful reference and one that I refer to regularly. If there was but one book to understand living systems and how the science has evolved and the impact on our world, please read this book. I can not recommend it more highly.

As wide-ranging and thoughtful as Capra's other books.
This is a valuable successor to Capra's earlier books, all of which seek to discuss matters of critical societal and ecological concern within the framework of scientific analysis and understanding.
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Subjects:  1. History & Surveys - Modern    2. Philosophy & Social Aspects    3. Physics    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Science / General   

Reviews (2)

leading edge
Enlightening, sometimes radical penetrations of thought revealed by one eminently qualified at the task. Hidden Treasure
I have found all of FC's books very helpful. He has been able to take many exceptionally complex ideas in science and make them accessible to the lay reader - such as myself. In particular, he has made the link between the New Physics andLiving Systems and the ancient wisdom.Read more

Subjects:  1. Capra, Fritjof    2. General    3. History & Surveys - Modern    4. New Age / Parapsychology    5. New Age movement    6. Philosophy (General)    7. Science (General)    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Social movements   

Subjects:  1. Body, Mind & Spirit    2. Cults    3. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    4. Occultism    5. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction   

Reviews (12)

A tour de force
A fine book, as areall of Capra's. The discussion ranges far and wide, with many interesting insights. He has obvious researched it thoroughly. The way in which he moves between topics such as globalization, gene-manipulated food, the latest results of the Human Genome project, consciousness etc. is admirable. His treatment of each of the topics, though not always in as much depth as I would have liked, is clear and readbale. Capra again champions system thinking as he did in `Web of Life' - and this is certainly an improvement on the linear reductionism that characterizes the old fashioned mind-sets of most establishment biologists, mostly in the pay of the GM consortium or with other vested interests in supporting the status quo that says that "genes cause behavior".However, I feel that he stops short at mechanisms such as emergence - his adherence to Maturana & Varela's autopoetic version of cognitiveprocesses is still too mechanist-materialist for my liking. I think he could have gone further, e.g. with consciousness, to the hard problem of how subjective awareness arises from objective processes - and emergence is not enough here, as all other examples are of the emergence of a greater level of objective complexity from simpler components. The hard problem is how can a qualitatively different thing such as subjective consciousness arise from any objective process, no matter how complex.
A fine study on the dynamics of life, culture, and meaning.
The Hidden Connections employs inductive and deductive processes that includes the predominate traits in the character and cognition of individuals and the notion of life, the effective character of influential groups, and the coalescence of individual and group desires when people respond to various stimuli. Capra refers to this as `The Dynamics of Culture'. It is a very well researched, primarily academic treatise on the science of sustainability.
Excellent read!
This book was really a true pleasure to read!This book provides us with a very beautiful picture of how all matter (both organic and non-organic) including ourselves is connected and related to each other. Even though the author tries to illuminate us on how we are destroying ourselves, he has apositive vision that is still realizeable if we allow our consciousness to evolve more. I believe we are in desparate need of writers like this at this day and age where we are closing in on the extinction of our own species. If you'd like to learn about how all of this relates to the human mind and why we do some of the terrible things we do to ourselves, read "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is an absolutely incredible book that will further your understanding of nature (including ourselves) immensely. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History & Surveys - Modern    3. New Age movement    4. Philosophy & Social Aspects    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Social aspects    8. System theory    9. Science / General   

Features

• Abridged

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Inspirational/Philosophy    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Body, Mind & Spirit    5. Buddhism - General    6. Eastern - Taoism    7. Hinduism    8. Mysticism    9. New Thought    10. Philosophy    11. Physics   

Reviews (1)

Drawing parallels where they do not seem to be
When I was in graduate school in psychology, one of the professors assigned this book. He was trying to make the point that, with all the different schools of thought in psychology (e.g., behaviorism, psychoanalytic theory, the phenomenologists, existentialism), there was much more common ground than many theorists want to admit. He portrayed this book as a way to look at life in much more subjective, relativistic terms than most of the professors were adhering to. The physics described in the book were beyond me, but the general idea was that even a "hard" science, like physics, was actually more "fuzzy" than many physicists would want to admit. It was an interesting read, even for someone headed into a very different field (Or is it that different?). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Philosophy   

Reviews (2)

An Intriguing Project
The format of the book is to record the conversation between three men regarding science, theology, spirituality, and human nature.I found the discussions of theology in particular to be interesting, as one of the discussants is a monk.The topics are covered in a non-dogmatic way, with a genuine questing spirituality evident.Without descending into New Age pap, the book explores fresh ways of approaching tradition in science and religion.

Religion; Not much Science
I was disappointed. This book (which I ended up scanning through after a while) didn't provide me with any additional value. On a serious trek of digesting the work of Fritjof Capra, this book was clearly not a strong representation of his work (aside from the fact that it was the capture of dialog rather than a concentrated capture of ideas; typical of Capra's works). If uncovering the "mind of Capra" is your goal, stick with "The Turning Point" and "The Web of Life". ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Philosophy & Social Aspects    2. Psychology of Religion    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Philosophy of science   

Reviews (1)

A fine introduction to Capra.
This is an excellent book that acquaints you with the intellectual odyssey and personality of Mr. Capra. Filled with brilliant insights and fascinating discussions with people like E.F. Schumacher, R.D. Laing,Gregory Bateson, Geoffrey Chew, Krishnamurti, Warner Heisenberg, and manyother giants of the 20th century who shaped Capra's thoughts in the writingof Tao of Physics and The Turning Point. Gives you an underpinning for TheWeb of Life too. An insider's multidisciplinary look into the intellectualcutting edge of the 60s and 70s. Warmly written and very pleasant. I highlyrecommend it as a starting point for a deep understanding of Fritjof Capra. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History & Surveys - Modern    3. Philosophy    4. Capra, Fritjof    5. Non-Classifiable   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Science   

Reviews (1)

A Must read on Green Politics
If you are interested in Green politics, this is one of the books that you MUST read.It discusses the core issues of Green politics, and assesses the growing popularity (at the time) of the Green movement, which primarly took root in Europe--in particular the then West Germany. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bible    2. Bible.    3. Criticism, interpretation, etc    4. Environmental Policy    5. General    6. John    7. N.T    8. N.T.    9. Political Parties    10. Religion - Church History   

Subjects:  1. Consciousness    2. Personality    3. Psychology    4. Social Psychology    5. Psychology & Psychiatry / Social Psychology    6. The self, ego, identity, personality   

Reviews (2)

Mr. Capra eloquently states his view of the universe.
Fritjof Capra eloquently displays the striking similarities between the ancient arts of enlightenment and the modern discoveries in Physics.If you read this book you're eyes will open wide, whether you're beginning toexplore Physics or you're 30 years deep in Physics.

unbelieveible, excellent, marvellous , ...
This book thought me that there is an another point of view to our life. We should learn it if we are interested in real life. Life is not only the living. My life has changed after this book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Science/Mathematics    2. PHYSICS    3. Science: General Issues   

Subjects:  1. Mysticism    2. Philosophy    3. Physics