“Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science, but man needs both.” —Fritjof Capra, Ph.D.
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Dec 22, 2007
John
rated it: 
This book would have been better called "The Buddha of Physics", or something like that. Throughout the whole book there is hardly a single reference to taoism, and certainly no understanding of taoism and its relation to other asian religions.
The great majority of the spiritual/religious references in this book are from Indian Buddhism and Hinduism. A mild smattering of zen. Hardly any Chinese Buddhism.
I found this book incredibly boring. I think I actually sta More...
The great majority of the spiritual/religious references in this book are from Indian Buddhism and Hinduism. A mild smattering of zen. Hardly any Chinese Buddhism.
I found this book incredibly boring. I think I actually sta More...
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Jan 14, 2008
Adam
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This book bridged a major divide in my perception of the world, bringing together ideas of Quantum Physics and Eastern Mysticism. Capra, trained in both disciplines, does a fine job comparing quotes and emerging universal perceptions of the early pioneers in quantum physics, against philosophers and yogis of the ancient religions of the East. In a beautiful way, you come to discover that each of these disparate disciplines are somehow describing the universe through strikingly similar metaphor
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Aug 09, 2011
A seminal classic that was one of the first pieces of reading that began to change my worldview, and till today, remains one of the first attempted ‘consilience’ of science and spirit. Rather than a conventional book summary or review, I would like to capture key sentences/ quotes that adorn the terrain like a string of pearls:
Chapter 1 – Modern Physics: A Path with a Heart
Any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells y More...
Chapter 1 – Modern Physics: A Path with a Heart
Any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells y More...
Mar 02, 2011
Ken
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This is a very interesting treatise on how physics is just catching up with Eastern religions. The more scientists discover about the working of the universe, from the tiniest particles to the most universal truths, the more Eastern mysticism and preachings are substantiated as true. Yet Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism have been preaching these truths for thousands of years. I was totally fascinated and engrossed. The first few chapters each give a brief overview of the different Eastern religions (p
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May 15, 2009
Ben
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It is widely recognized, at least by those outside of science, that scientists are notorious bunglers when it comes to philosophical matters. So it is not surprising, though hardly excusable, that Capra's book displays a level of incompetence that should be immediately obvious to anyone with even a cursory background in logic or philosophy. As a matter of fact, it would be surprising if such an unqualified admirer of Taoism, whose writings Capra notes approvingly are "full of passages refle
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May 31, 2010
Suhrob
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I'm bit torn on this one. The author is clearly not a complete nut. He offers a decent description of the big ideas in physics of the first half of the 20th century (albeit if you already know the story, there is nothing new here). He also gives a crash course on different flavors of buddhism (not so much taoism actually). He ties them together by: idea from physics "... which is very similar to..." idea from buddhism. My problem is three folds: 1. If you want an popular level intro to
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Sep 11, 2011
Sebastian
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This is a great book at showing the parallels between mystical and scientific research.
It also does a great job of stimulating visual imagination in the realm of the 4th dimension. This is the first book I have read that has managed to really explain the paradox of quantum-reality more clearly and I can now finally how the paradox of time and location are fundamental issues relating to the fabric of particles rather than with measuring techniques. It also gives a very good visual descr More...
It also does a great job of stimulating visual imagination in the realm of the 4th dimension. This is the first book I have read that has managed to really explain the paradox of quantum-reality more clearly and I can now finally how the paradox of time and location are fundamental issues relating to the fabric of particles rather than with measuring techniques. It also gives a very good visual descr More...
Jan 24, 2008
Erik
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A book that fundamentally changed the way I felt and thought deep down inside at a time of my life when I needed some sort of metaphysical path.
When you strip away the mathematics from the concepts of quantum mechanics and strong theory, etc., you get a bewildering array of thought-provking images that conjure up those posed by the best koans that Zen has to offer. Eastern mysticism meets modern physics.
You will understand that everything is connected.
When you strip away the mathematics from the concepts of quantum mechanics and strong theory, etc., you get a bewildering array of thought-provking images that conjure up those posed by the best koans that Zen has to offer. Eastern mysticism meets modern physics.
You will understand that everything is connected.
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Aug 17, 2011
Cassandra
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Hmmm what to say about this. In some ways I agree that there are a number of parallels at least in the modality of viewing the world through the eyes of the eastern believer and the modern day physicist. But whether or not these parallels are entirely the ones drawn by the author or further expounded on in this book I have some reservations in either regard. Perhaps it was because I did not enjoy being told by the author where these parallels were or being lead around in such a manner. Some of h
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Oct 21, 2010
Ranga
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Is a great intro on modern physics. Covers both relativity and Quantum Physics with great precision and candor, and is recommended for the laymen and beginners of physics. What it does not do however is understand eastern mysticism. The history of Buddhism and taoism is accurate, but the book takes religious literature literally, and not in the metaphoric sense that it should've been taken. With a title like this the book could've easily captured the essence of taoist philosophy rather than goin
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Dec 16, 2009
Eli
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interesting read, but a bit boring at times. i thought also that it had an absurd amount of typos for a book in its 5th edition. maybe this shows that i dont know the publishing world. there is alot of interesting information about eastern religions. a interesting read for engineering geeks such as myself.
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Oct 10, 2011
Antonio
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é un libro che illustra come le filosofie mistiche orientali e le teorie della fisica "moderna" si intrecciano. La cosa che affascina, e che rende il libro molto interessante é che l'autore ci dimostra che molti secoli prima in oriente le correnti filosofiche mistiche avevano gia' ben intuito e forse compreso concezioni dimostrate recentemente dalla scienza ... Mi solo limitato a dare le 4 stelle perche' a tratti il libro, seppur reso semplice e scritto in maniera appassionata, stanca
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Oct 15, 2011
joey
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As an interdisciplinary comparative study, Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics perhaps inevitably remains quite superficial; as a quick introduction to Eastern philosophy, it is quite good, albeit focused mostly on Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism; and as a layperson's introduction to modern physics and particle physics, wow!, it is exceptional. The comparison of modern physics and Eastern mysticism is compelling and ambitious, but perhaps words, spoken or written, on mysticism are inevitably ill-f
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Nov 29, 2011
Nicholas
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The human mind has a predisposition to religious belief,if it is not being satisfied by conventional means then it expresses itself through the spirit of the age.In this case we are to worship at the shrine of Quantum Physics, a group of theories so bulging with ambiguities and unexplained phenomena that it will slot right into the mystical "there must be more to life" hole.
You could interpret it as the intellect trying to interpret the spiritual,in which case the inevitable ou More...
You could interpret it as the intellect trying to interpret the spiritual,in which case the inevitable ou More...
Jan 26, 2010
Eric
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No, it's not what I typically read, but I thought this was really enlightening. So much better than the hokey magic crystal new age books out there. I generally feel far more spirituality coming out of new scientific discoveries than mythical "truths", so this was really a refreshing read for me, even if it was originally written in the 70s. Capra dives deep into the physics portion of this, and provides a detailed summary of the Eastern philosophies he's drawing parallels to. In f
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Jul 15, 2010
Daniel
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The connections between Eastern philosophy and modern physics are superficial at best. The treatment of each - separately - is engaging. Surprisingly so. And I like the general statements about how physics and spirituality arrive at somewhat similar *worldviews* - which I suppose they do, kind of. THAT is interesting (but then again, I'm pretty sure some of the pre-Socratics arrived at the very same worldview). But when he started to argue that the minutiae of physics agree with spiritual concep
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May 08, 2011
Donatella
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E' difficile dare un quadro esaustivo di questo libro. Molto complesso, non ha nulla a che vedere con la religione come viene comunemente intesa. Capra ci porta attraverso una strada fatta di collegamenti inusuali (soprattutto per l'epoca in cui è stato scritto). Da un lato la fisica quantistica moderna, in particolare tutte le implicazioni legate al Principio di indeterminazione di Heisenberg e tutto ciò che da lì è derivato, dall'altra le scoperte sulla natura della realtà (e sulla realtà dell
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Mar 30, 2010
Jen
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I really liked this book; but I admit it had flaws, mainly due to the actual content in relation to the title. First, this book reads more like a review of quantum physics (a subject I'm not qualified to give a critique on in terms of the book's accuracy) than religion. In many cases, the author goes on for pages about quantum physics, in technical detail, and then at the very end sticks in a throw away line about how this is similar to Buddhism or Hinduism because they both believe we are all
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Feb 06, 2010
Braxtonlewis
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Jan 10, 2010
Andrew
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I read this book back when I was a teenage nerd and I think it had a great deal of influence on me, shaping my character and making me what I am today: a middle-aged nerd.
This was one of my earliest exposures to both modern physics and ancient mysticism, and from what I have observed, whatever source first introduces one to these ideas is always held in special esteem. Though highly recommended by others, I didn't enjoy The Dancing Wu-Li Masters, nor the film What the <Bleep> More...
This was one of my earliest exposures to both modern physics and ancient mysticism, and from what I have observed, whatever source first introduces one to these ideas is always held in special esteem. Though highly recommended by others, I didn't enjoy The Dancing Wu-Li Masters, nor the film What the <Bleep> More...
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Oct 01, 2009
Víctor
rated it:
Hace tiempo que mi tocayo Víctor H. me había recomendado leer a Fritjof Capra, y como ya saben, el universo conspira en estas cosas, hace cosa de más de un mes que Edu M. me prestó su copia de El Tao de la Física.
[ Nota al margen: Ahora creo que a eso del universo conspirante, Carl G. Jung le llamó sincronismo. El significado de los hechos los plantea el individuo... pero el individuo es parte de un universo altamente interconectado... ]
El libro me gustó, mucho, y por var More...
[ Nota al margen: Ahora creo que a eso del universo conspirante, Carl G. Jung le llamó sincronismo. El significado de los hechos los plantea el individuo... pero el individuo es parte de un universo altamente interconectado... ]
El libro me gustó, mucho, y por var More...
Feb 26, 2010
Rob
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Similar to how I felt with The Elegant Universe; here was a book that did a good job of giving a survey of "the known physics", a good job of explaining the intractable problems, and then a poor job of explaining "the new way" (while at the same time hedging as much as possible). The comparisons to Eastern mysticism seemed a little conveniently tacked on, and maybe even a bit cherry-picked. I think the real problem I had with this book though wasn't about the theories (whic
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Aug 18, 2008
Skip
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This book was a pretty interesting take on how the almost metaphysical intricacies of modern physics parallel ideas that have been prevalent in Eastern quasi-religious thought for centuries. The information presented here is extremely interesting and definitely induces a new outlook on reality if you let it.
The information relating to particle and field physics was awesome to read and learn about, and just the physics bits alone would have flown this book. How the author uses analogi More...
The information relating to particle and field physics was awesome to read and learn about, and just the physics bits alone would have flown this book. How the author uses analogi More...
Mar 22, 2008
Myridian
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Reading this book was almost a transformative experience. It brought home the idea that the world that I exist in is illusory on a whole host of levels. Not only is my reality tainted by my experience, but it is also impossible to experience the "real" universe because most of it exists outside of our realm of sensation (anything very small or very large cannot be experienced by us firsthand) and even if we could somehow perceive it, we can't experience anything without changing it.
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Jul 31, 2007
Brandon
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by fritjof capra. this book followed naturally from the holographic universe and far exceeded my expectations. in fact, it is amazing. capra is an accomplished physicist and sets out to describe the relationship between sub-atmoic particle physics and eastern mysticism. basically, the largely successful idea of classical physics and the macroscopic objects it describes completely breaks down in the sub-atomic realm. the blending of space and time, the uncertainty principle, and the interchangeab
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Jul 23, 2007
Matt
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I read this book over nine years ago while in highschool so it's fair to say I'm fairly rusty on the details. All I remember was a steady stream of "Wow!". The main concept I remember walking away with was that a foreseeable path lies in our future when western science will wholy wake up and realize they've been proving much of what the east has "known" for centuries. Now this is a somewhat twisted remark. I don't mean that everything those in the east know and do is corr
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Dec 08, 2009
Naxa
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Not as good as its reputation would entail. The aspersions to eastern philosophy and contemporary physics as a definite thing is exaggerated to an insane extent in this book. Most of these beliefs are vague and not as well enumerated in the source material as Fritjof Capra would have you believe. It pains me and many others for both the sake of eastern philosophy and science that this book is given the reputation it has with such an insane premise and lack of anything to show its really true.
Oct 31, 2011
Jesse
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Overall, a very interesting perspective on scientific vs. mystic thought, and makes me want to read 'The Dancing Wu Li Masters' or another perspective on quantum mechanics vs. Eastern mysticism.
* The readability and cohesion of the comparisons were tough to follow at rimes.
* The second part of the book was a helpful beginner's overview of eastern mysticism
* While the macro-organization of the book is cohesive, the conclusions seem to be either difficult to spot or thinly de More...
* The readability and cohesion of the comparisons were tough to follow at rimes.
* The second part of the book was a helpful beginner's overview of eastern mysticism
* While the macro-organization of the book is cohesive, the conclusions seem to be either difficult to spot or thinly de More...
May 06, 2011
Donnie
rated it:
I love this book. Most of my life I've tried to walk the life between my faith and my scientific mind, and I have slipped to one side or the other a number of times until I lerned - from this book and many others - that the edge I was walking on was not so thin. Even that was a mistake, after a while: it was no edge at all. The Tao of Physics is one of the books that puzzeld me the most, but one of the one's I liked the most to read and consult.
Feb 21, 2010
Jim
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Not as profound as everyone thinks. Some good moments, but he really stretches the old saw about the ancient eastern mystics knowing about quantum chromodynamics and string theory and chaotic fractals and information entropy and the big bang / cosmic inflation well before science had a clue (even before there WAS what we know as science). Eastern thinking might still well be a good preparation for young scientists, however.
