Dr. Fritjof Capra – photo by Kate Mount

Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American physicist. Download high resolution version (600x750, 249 KB)Fritjof Capra; from [1]. Publicity photo by Kate Mount. ... Download high resolution version (600x750, 249 KB)Fritjof Capra; from [1]. Publicity photo by Kate Mount. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with physician, a person who practices medicine. ...

Born in Vienna, Austria, Capra earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna in 1966. He has done research on particle physics and systems theory, and has written popular books on the implications of science, notably The Tao of Physics, subtitled An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. The Tao of Physics makes an assertion that physics and metaphysics are both inexorably leading to the same knowledge. His works all share a similar subtext: that "there are hidden connections between everything". Huge numbers of this book have been sold, but Capra's views are dismissed by some scientific observers as being unfalsifiable and therefore of little interest to them^[1]. For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... The University of Vienna (German: ) is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Thousands of particles explode from the collision point of two relativistic (100 GeV per nucleon) gold ions in the STAR detector of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. ... Systems theory is an interdisciplinary field of science. ... The Tao of Physics (full title: The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism) was a 1975 book by physicist Fritjof Capra, published by Shambhala Publications of Berkeley, California. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... This page discusses how a theory or assertion is falsifiable (disprovable opp: verifiable), rather than the non-philosophical use of falsification, meaning counterfeiting. ...

Work

After touring Germany in the early 1980s, Capra co-wrote a book on Green Politics with ecofeminist author Charlene Spretnak called Green Politics, in 1984. Green politics or Green ideology is the ideology of the Green Parties, mainly informed by environmentalism, ecosophy and sustainable economics and aimed at developing a sustainable society. ... Charlene Spretnak is an author, academic and feminist credited with pioneering work in ecological thought and social criticism. ...

Capra contributed to the screenplay for the 1990 movie Mindwalk, starring Liv Ullman, Sam Waterston, and John Heard, which was loosely based on his book, The Turning Point. This book was also the inspiration for a broad based ad campaign called "The Turning Point Project". In the Fall of 2000, under the leadership of Jerry Mander and Andrew Kimbrell, The Turning Point Project produced full page-ads in USA Today and The New York Times criticising nanotechnology. The ads claimed that proponents of molecular nanotechnology never considered how people would live without jobs, though that discussion is popular and perennial in nanotech circles^{[citation needed]}. Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Mindwalk is a 1990 movie directed by Bernt Amadeus Capra, based on a book by his brother Fritjof Capra, named The Turning Point. ... Liv Ullmann (born December 16, 1939) is a Norwegian actress, author and film director. ... Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an Oscar nominated American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jack McCoy on the long-running NBC television series Law & Order. ... John Heard John Heard (born March 7, 1945 in Washington, DC, USA) is an American actor. ... The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture is a book by Fritjof Capra written to explain the perceived scientific and economic crises. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Jerry Mander is an American activist best known for his book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (1977), and for his contribution to a book on an unrelated topic, The Great International Paper Airplane Book (1971). ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is the concept of engineering functional mechanical systems at the molecular scale. ...

In 1991 Capra coauthored Belonging to the Universe with David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk and a man who has been called a contemporary Thomas Merton. Using Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as a stepping stone, their book explores the parallels between new paradigm thinking in science and religion that together offer what the authors consider remarkably compatible view of the universe. Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. ... Thomas Samuel Kuhn (July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively on the history of science and developed several important notions in the philosophy of science. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Capra pushes for western society to abandon conventional linear thought and the mechanistic views of Descartes. Critiquing Descartes' reductionistic view that everything can be studied in parts to understand the whole, he allows his readers to take an objective and fresh mind, encouraging them to see the world through complexity theory. For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Reductionism in philosophy describes a number of related, contentious theories that hold, very roughly, that the nature of complex things can always be reduced to (explained by) simpler or more fundamental things. ... Complexity theory can refer to more than one thing: Computational complexity theory: a field in theoretical computer science and mathematics dealing with the resources required during computation to solve a given problem Systems theory (or systemics or general systems theory): an interdisciplinary field including engineering, biology and philosophy that incorporates...

Capra is purportedly setting the grounds for change in many new theories, one of which is the theory of living systems, a theoretical framework for ecology. This theory is only now fully emerging but it has its roots in several scientific fields that were developed during the first half of the twentieth century — organismic biology, gestalt psychology, ecology, general systems theory, and cybernetics. For the journal, see Ecology (journal). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the journal, see Ecology (journal). ... Systems theory is an interdisciplinary field of science. ... For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). ...

Fritjof Capra is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy located in Berkeley, California, which promotes ecology and systems thinking in primary and secondary education. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ... Systems thinking is a social approach using systems theories to create desired outcomes, or change. ...

Revision of the Original Stance

Capra's latest stance has detracted away from his original position(which is regrettably ignored by the public). Capra does not claim that Quantum mechanics proves mysticism but that there are important parellels. Mysticism cannot substitute quantum mechanics or vice versa. It's also important to note that during the original publication of the Tao of Physics, Capra attempted to draw parelles between Hinduism's Indra's Net of Jewels, or Buddhist interpenetration and the bootstrap hypothesis. Now that the bootstrap hypothesis is out of vogue in the physics community. Capra has considerably revised his stance. The public should be aware of this revision and not proceed to claim that New Physics proves mysticism, of which the stance has always been scorned by the scientific community as quantum quackery. For a less technical and generally accessible introduction to the topic, see Introduction to quantum mechanics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up Interpenetration in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Quantum mysticism and quantum quackery are pejorative terms referring to the practice of selectively borrowing ideas from quantum physics to support New Age and other pseudoscientific beliefs. ...

Bibliography

Capra has written several books and articles. A selection of his books:

• 1975, The Tao of Physics.
• 1984, Green Politics, with Charlene Spretnak.
• 1982, The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture
• 1988, Uncommon Wisdom
• 1991, Belonging to the Universe: Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality, coauthored with David Steindl-Rast and Thomas Matus.
• 1997, The Web of Life
• 2004, The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living

The Tao of Physics (full title: The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism) was a 1975 book by physicist Fritjof Capra, published by Shambhala Publications of Berkeley, California. ... Charlene Spretnak is an author, academic and feminist credited with pioneering work in ecological thought and social criticism. ... The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture is a book by Fritjof Capra written to explain the perceived scientific and economic crises. ...

See also

• The da Vinci Medallion
• Deep Ecology

The Leonardo da Vinci Society for the Study of Thinking and the da Vinci Medallion were created by the University of Advancing Technology (UAT) to award scholarship in the realm of human thinking. ... Deep ecology is a recent branch of ecological philosophy (ecosophy) that considers humankind as an integral part of its environment. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.csicop.org/si/9701/quantum-quackery.html Skeptical Inquirer on Quantum Quackery

External links

• His homepage
• The Turning Point
• Home on the web for the Center for Ecoliteracy
• Interview with Fritjof Capra by Francis Pisani