The Tao of Physics
Encyclopedia
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism is a book by physicist
Fritjof Capra
, published in 1975 by Shambhala Publications
of Berkeley, California
. It was a bestseller in the United States
, and has been published in 43 editions in 23 languages. The fourth edition in English
was published in 2000.
of Physics summarizes Capra's motivation for writing this book.
According to the preface of the first edition, reprinted in subsequent editions, Capra struggled to reconcile theoretical physics
and Eastern mysticism
and was at first "helped on my way by 'power plants'" or psychedelics, with the first experience "so overwhelming that I burst into tears, at the same time, not unlike Castaneda
, pouring out my impressions to a piece of paper." (p.12, 4th ed.)
Capra later discussed his ideas with Werner Heisenberg
in 1972, as he mentioned in the following interview excerpt:
As a result of those influences, Bohr adopted the yin yang symbol as part of his family coat of arms
when he was knight
ed in 1947.
The Tao of Physics was followed by other books of the same genre like The Hidden Connection, The Turning Point and The Web of Life in which Capra extended the argument of how Eastern mysticism and scientific findings of today relate, and how Eastern mysticism might also have answers to some of the biggest scientific challenges of today.
It was preceded by R. G. H. Siu's The Tao of Science: an Essay on Western Knowledge and Eastern Wisdom, first published by MIT Press in 1957 and later in 1964.http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=7132
. However it is not without its critics. It received a positive review from New York Magazine :
Victor N. Mansfield, a professor of physics and astronomy at Colgate University
who wrote many papers and books of his own connecting physics to Buddhism and also to Jungian psychology
, complimented The Tao of Physics in Physics Today
:
Jeremy Bernstein, a professor of physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology
, chastised The Tao of Physics:
Leon M. Lederman
, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and current Director Emeritus of Fermilab
, criticized both The Tao of Physics and Gary Zukav
's The Dancing Wu Li Masters
in his 1993 book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?
Philosopher of science Eric Scerri criticizes both Capra and Zukav and similar books, E.R. Scerri, Eastern Mysticism and the Alleged Parallels with Physics, American Journal of Physics, 57, no. 8, 687-692, 1989.
Peter Woit
, a mathematical physicist
at Columbia University
, criticized Capra for continuing to build his case for physics-mysticism parallels on the bootstrap model
of strong-force
interactions, long after the Standard Model
had become thoroughly accepted by physicists as a better model:
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
Fritjof Capra
Fritjof Capra
Fritjof Capra is an Austrian-born American physicist. He is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, and is on the faculty of Schumacher College....
, published in 1975 by Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications is an independent publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. According to the company, it specializes in "books that present creative and conscious ways of transforming the individual, the society, and the planet". Many of its books deal with Buddhism or related topics...
of Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. It was a bestseller in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and has been published in 43 editions in 23 languages. The fourth edition in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
was published in 2000.
Origin
The following excerpt from The TaoTao
Dao or Tao is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'...
of Physics summarizes Capra's motivation for writing this book.
According to the preface of the first edition, reprinted in subsequent editions, Capra struggled to reconcile theoretical physics
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
and Eastern mysticism
Eastern mysticism
Eastern mysticism or Eastern spirituality is a broad and largely Western concept summarizing and sometimes amalgamating mystic traditions of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East, a separate realm from Western mysticism...
and was at first "helped on my way by 'power plants'" or psychedelics, with the first experience "so overwhelming that I burst into tears, at the same time, not unlike Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
, pouring out my impressions to a piece of paper." (p.12, 4th ed.)
Capra later discussed his ideas with Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
in 1972, as he mentioned in the following interview excerpt:
I had several discussions with HeisenbergWerner HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
. I lived in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
then [circa 1972], and I visited him several times in MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and showed him the whole manuscript chapter by chapter. He was very interested and very open, and he told me something that I think is not known publicly because he never published it. He said that he was well aware of these parallels. While he was working on quantum theoryIntroduction to quantum mechanicsQuantum mechanics is the body of scientific principles that explains the behavior of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atoms and atomic particles....
he went to India to lecture and was a guest of TagoreRabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
. He talked a lot with Tagore about Indian philosophy. Heisenberg told me that these talks had helped him a lot with his work in physics, because they showed him that all these new ideas in quantum physics were in fact not all that crazy. He realized there was, in fact, a whole culture that subscribed to very similar ideas. Heisenberg said that this was a great help for him. Niels BohrNiels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
had a similar experience when he went to China. – Fritjof Capra, interviewed by Renee Weber in the book The Holographic Paradigm (page 217–218)
As a result of those influences, Bohr adopted the yin yang symbol as part of his family coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
when he was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1947.
The Tao of Physics was followed by other books of the same genre like The Hidden Connection, The Turning Point and The Web of Life in which Capra extended the argument of how Eastern mysticism and scientific findings of today relate, and how Eastern mysticism might also have answers to some of the biggest scientific challenges of today.
It was preceded by R. G. H. Siu's The Tao of Science: an Essay on Western Knowledge and Eastern Wisdom, first published by MIT Press in 1957 and later in 1964.http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=7132
Acclaim and criticism
The book was the best seller in United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However it is not without its critics. It received a positive review from New York Magazine :
"A brilliant best-seller. . . . Lucidly analyzes the tenets of HinduismHinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, and TaoismTaoismTaoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
to show their striking parallels with the latest discoveries in cyclotrons."
Victor N. Mansfield, a professor of physics and astronomy at Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
who wrote many papers and books of his own connecting physics to Buddhism and also to Jungian psychology
Analytical psychology
Analytical psychology is the school of psychology originating from the ideas of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. His theoretical orientation has been advanced by his students and other thinkers who followed in his tradition. Though they share similarities, analytical psychology is distinct from...
, complimented The Tao of Physics in Physics Today
Physics Today
Physics Today, created in 1948, is the membership journal of the American Institute of Physics. It is provided to 130,000 members of twelve physics societies, including the American Physical Society...
:
"Fritjof Capra, in The Tao of Physics , seeks . . . an integration of the mathematical world view of modern physics and the mystical visions of Buddha and Krishna. Where others have failed miserably in trying to unite these seemingly different world views, Capra, a high-energy theorist, has succeeded admirably. I strongly recommend the book to both layman and scientist."
Jeremy Bernstein, a professor of physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
, chastised The Tao of Physics:
At the heart of the matter is Mr. Capra's methodology — his use of what seem to me to be accidental similarities of language as if these were somehow evidence of deeply rooted connections.
Thus I agree with Capra when he writes, "Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science but man needs both." What no one needs, in my opinion, is this superficial and profoundly misleading book.
Leon M. Lederman
Leon M. Lederman
Leon Max Lederman is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work with neutrinos. He is Director Emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, USA...
, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and current Director Emeritus of Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
, criticized both The Tao of Physics and Gary Zukav
Gary Zukav
Gary Zukav is a spiritual teacher and author of four consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Beginning in 1998, Zukav appeared more than 30 times on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss transformation in human consciousness concepts presented in The Seat of the Soul.-Life Story:Gary Zukav was born in...
's The Dancing Wu Li Masters
The Dancing Wu Li Masters
The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav is a popular new age book from 1979 about mysticist interpretations of quantum physics.The toneless pinyin phrase Wu Li in the title is most accurately rendered 物理 in hanzi in the light of the book's subject matter, but appears to be somewhat of a pun as...
in his 1993 book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?
The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?
The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What is the Question? is a 1993 popular science book by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon M. Lederman and science writer Dick Teresi....
Starting with reasonable descriptions of quantum physics, he constructs elaborate extensions, totally bereft of the understanding of how carefully experiment and theory are woven together and how much blood, sweat, and tears go into each painful advance.
Philosopher of science Eric Scerri criticizes both Capra and Zukav and similar books, E.R. Scerri, Eastern Mysticism and the Alleged Parallels with Physics, American Journal of Physics, 57, no. 8, 687-692, 1989.
Peter Woit
Peter Woit
Peter Woit is a Departmental Computer Administrator and Senior Lecturer in Discipline at Columbia University, known for his criticisms of string theory in his book Not Even Wrong, and his blog of the same name.-Career:...
, a mathematical physicist
Mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, criticized Capra for continuing to build his case for physics-mysticism parallels on the bootstrap model
Bootstrap model
In physics, the term bootstrap model is used for a class of theories that use very general consistency criteria to determine the form of a quantum theory from some assumptions on the spectrum of particles...
of strong-force
Strong interaction
In particle physics, the strong interaction is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature, the others being electromagnetism, the weak interaction and gravitation. As with the other fundamental interactions, it is a non-contact force...
interactions, long after the Standard Model
Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory concerning the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions, which mediate the dynamics of the known subatomic particles. Developed throughout the mid to late 20th century, the current formulation was finalized in the mid 1970s upon...
had become thoroughly accepted by physicists as a better model:
The Tao of Physics was completed in December 1974, and the implications of the November Revolution one month earlier that led to the dramatic confirmations of the standard-model quantum field theory clearly had not sunk in for Capra (like many others at that time). What is harder to understand is that the book has now gone through several editions, and in each of them Capra has left intact the now out-of-date physics, including new forewords and afterwords that with a straight face deny what has happened. The foreword to the second edition of 1983 claims, "It has been very gratifying for me that none of these recent developments has invalidated anything I wrote seven years ago. In fact, most of them were anticipated in the original edition," a statement far from any relation to the reality that in 1983 the standard model was nearly universally accepted in the physics community, and the bootstrap theory was a dead idea ... Even now, Capra's book, with its nutty denials of what has happened in particle theory, can be found selling well at every major bookstore. It has been joined by some other books on the same topic, most notably Gary Zukav's The Dancing Wu-Li Masters. The bootstrap philosophy, despite its complete failure as a physical theory, lives on as part of an embarrassing New AgeNew AgeThe New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
cult, with its followers refusing to acknowledge what has happened.
Editions
- The Tao of Physics, Fritof Capra, Shambhala Publications, 1975
- Shambhala, 2nd edition 1983: ISBN 0-394-71612-4 Bantam reprint 1985: ISBN 0-553-26379-X
- Shambhala, 3rd edition 1991: ISBN 0-87773-594-8
- Shambhala, 4th edition 2000: ISBN 1-57062-519-0
- Audio Renaissance, 1990 audio cassette tape: ISBN 1-55927-089-6
- Audio Renaissance, 2004 audio compact disc (abridged) ISBN 1-55927-999-0
See also
- Quantum mysticismQuantum mysticismQuantum mysticism is a term that has been used to refer to a set of metaphysical beliefs and associated practices that seek to relate consciousness, intelligence or mystical world-views to the ideas of quantum mechanics and its interpretations...
- The Turning Point (book)The Turning Point (book)The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture is a book by Fritjof Capra written to explain perceived scientific and economic crises....