Number and time: Reflections leading towards a unification of psychology and physics

C.J. Jung's work in his later years suggested that the seemingly divergent sciences of psychology and modern physics might, in fact, be approaching a unified world model in which the dualism of matter and psyche would be resolved. Jung believed that the natural numbers are the archetypal patterns that regulate the unitary realm of psyche and matter, and that number serves as a special instrument for man's becoming conscious of this unity. In Number and Time, Marie-Louise von Franz explores Jung's hypothesis. Her discussions of the theory of number draw on a wealth of material from eastern philosophy, ethnology, archaeology, and mythology, as well as natural sciences and mathematics. The book includes explorations of the psychological aspects of mathematics, a discussion of number as a psychophysical energy pattern, and a description of mandalas (structures of the unconscious in mathematically symmetrical patterns similar to models in western physical science). In addition, Dr. von Franz develops Jung's concept of synchronicity, the causal relation between meaningful coincidental events, and relates it to the theory of divination. Number and Time is a piece of original scholarship which introduces a view of how 'mind' connects with 'matter' at the most fundamental level.