Patterns of Connection: Essential Essays from Five Decades

Product Description
Fritjof Capra, scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, presents the evolution of his thought over five decades in Patterns of Connection. First introduced in the late 1950s to the work of Werner Heisenberg, a founder of quantum mechanics, Capra quickly intuited the connections between the discoveries of quantum physics and the traditions of Eastern philosophy--resulting in his first book, the bestselling The Tao of Physics. This synthesis, representative of the change from the mechanistic worldview of Descartes and Newton to a systemic, ecological one, went on to inform Capra's thinking about the life sciences, ecology, and environmental policy.Today Fritjof Capra remains a major figure at the crossroads of physics, spirituality, environmentalism, and systems theory. Organized thematically and chronologically, the essays in Patterns of Connection document the revolutionary and far-reaching intellectual journey of one of the major public thinkers of the last half-century.
Review
"Fritjof Capra is a rare innovative thinker who, for five decades, has weaved together trends of thought with unique imagination: Eastern religions and quantum physics, the fate of the Earth and systems thinking, the notion of deep ecology and ethics, to name a few. This essential collection of essays celebrates Capra's worldview, calling for the collective awakening as a species that seems to want to sabotage its own collective future."--Marcelo Gleiser, 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate, and author of
The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning\n"This is the chronicle of an intellectually important and interesting life--Capra's understanding of systems thinking becomes ever more useful as we enter this period of systemic collapse. It's a story of routes we never really took and that we must now find again."--Bill McKibben, author of
Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?\n"Fritjof Capra is one of the foremost thinkers at the interface between modern physics and an encompassing worldview looking toward a sustainable future. In these essays, he has provided us with the intellectual tools to probe these critical and emerging ideas."--Jonathan Ashmore, contributor to
The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference, Second Edition\n"This synthesis of the work of Fritjof Capra spanning five decades provides an essential systems-thinking framework to understand and tackle the complex socioecological challenges confronting the planet."--Miguel A. Altieri, author of
Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture
About the Author
Fritjof Capra is the recipient of many awards, including the Gold Medal of the UK Systems Society, the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic, the Bioneers Award, the New Dimensions Broadcaster Award, and the American Book Award. He became universally known for his book
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism, which explored the ways in which modern physics was changing our worldview from a mechanistic to a holistic and ecological one. Capra lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and daughter.