Patterns of Connection

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.

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 and The End of Nature

• AcknowledgmentsPrefaceChapter 1. Philosophical Roots: Heisenberg and the SixtiesEssay 1. Werner Heisenberg: Explorer of the Limits of Human ImaginationEssay 2. Heisenberg and TagoreEssay 3. Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the SixtiesChapter 2. Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism: First Discoveries of the ParallelsEssay 4. The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern PhysicsEssay 5. Bootstrap and BuddhismEssay 6. Particle Physics and Eastern PhilosophyEssay 7. In Memoriam Geoffrey Chew, 1924–2019Chapter 3. Implications of the ‘New Physics’Essay 8. The New Physics as a Model for a New Medicine, Psychology, and Economics?Essay 9. The Unification of PhysicsChapter 4. The New Vision of Reality: An Early SynthesisEssay 10. Homage to Gregory BatesonEssay 11. The Turning Point: A New Vision of RealityEssay 12. The Role of Physics in the Current Change of ParadigmsChapter 5. Crisis of PerceptionEssay 13. Why Are the Real Issues of Our Time Excluded from the Political Dialogue?Essay 14. The Challenge of the NinetiesChapter 6. Ecological LiteracyEssay 15. The Principles of EcologyEssay 16. Ecology and CommunityEssay 17. Turn, Turn, Turn: Understanding Nature’s CyclesChapter 7. Complexity and LifeEssay 18. Russian Pioneers of Systems ThinkingEssay 19. ‘What Is Life?’ RevisitedEssay 20. Complexity and LifeEssay 21. Arcadia and the Science of ComplexityChapter 8. The Full SynthesisEssay 22. The Nature of Life: Integrating Biological, Cognitive, and Social DimensionsEssay 23. Food, Water, and LifeEssay 24. The Flow of Life in the Art of Andy GoldsworthyChapter 9. Systemic Problems Systemic SolutionsEssay 25. The Challenge of the 21st CenturyEssay 26. Systems Thinking and the State of the WorldEssay 27. The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systemic AnalysisChapter 10. Ecology and EthicsEssay 28. Deep Ecology: A New ParadigmEssay 29. Earth EthicsChapter 11. Science and Spirituality RevisitedEssay 30. Science, Spirituality, and ReligionEpilogueBibliographyIndex