The Tao of Physics 1

The Tao of Physics

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.

Origin
The following excerpt from The Tao of Physics summarizes Capra's
motivation for writing this book.
Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need
science, but man needs both. (epilogue)
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
The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
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:
I had several discussions with Heisenberg. I lived in England then [circa 1972], and I visited him several
times in Munich 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 theory he went to
India to lecture and was a guest of Tagore. 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 Bohr had a similar experience when he went to China. Fritjof Capra, interviewed by Renee
Weber in the book The Holographic Paradigm (page 217218)
As a result of those influences, Bohr adopted the yin yang symbol as part of his family coat of arms when he was
knighted 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.[1]
The Tao of Physics 2

Acclaim and criticism

The book was a best seller in the United States. 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 Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism to show
their striking parallels with the latest discoveries in cyclotrons."
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,[2] complimented The Tao of Physics in
Physics Today:[3][4]
"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,[5] chastised The Tao of Physics:[6]
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, 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?[7]
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, 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:[8]
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
Age cult, with its followers refusing to acknowledge what has happened.
The Tao of Physics 3

Notes
[1] http:/ / mitpress. mit. edu/ catalog/ item/ default. asp?ttype=2& tid=7132
[2] http:/ / www. templetonpress. org/ authors_detail. asp?author_id=84
[3] http:/ / www. shambhala. com/ html/ catalog/ items/ isbn/ 978-1-57062-519-0. cfm
[4] http:/ / www. amazon. com/ Tao-Physics-3rd-Updated/ dp/ 0877735948
[5] http:/ / www. edge. org/ 3rd_culture/ bios/ bernstein. html
[6] Jeremy Bernstein (1982) Science Observed, New York: Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-07340-9, p.333-340
[7] Leon Lederman (1993), The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?, New York: Bantam Doubleday, ISBN
0-385-31211-3, p. 189-193
[8] Peter Woit (2006), Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law, Basic Books, ISBN
978-0-465-09275-8, p. 141-145 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=pcJA3i0xKAUC& lpg=PP1& pg=PA144#v=onepage& q& f=false)

References
The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes, edited by Ken Wilber, Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala, 1982,
ISBN 0-394-71237-4
Woit, Peter (2006). Not Even Wrong - the Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law.
Basic Books. ISBN0-465-09275-6.
Siu, R. G. H., The Tao of Science: an Essay on Western Knowledge and Eastern Wisdom, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1957, ISBN 262-69004-7, ISBN 978-0-262-69004-1 / Library of Congress Catalogue
Card Number: 57-13460

Editions
The Tao of Physics, Fritjof 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
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

The Tao of Physics Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=548749241 Contributors: *Ria777*, Alcidebava, Ankit jn, Bcody80, Bill Thayer, Blainster, Cgingold, Cosmo0, Cryptic,
DaGizza, Dbachmann, Dbmdeg, Epastore, Eric Shalov, FTAAP, Giftlite, Gregbard, GregorB, Headbomb, Hitanshu D, Hypnosifl, Itsmejudith, Jac16888, JamesMLane, Joarsolo, Johnfos,
KYPark, Kadambarid, LaVerne L. Poussaint, Lisatwo, MakeRocketGoNow, Marchije, MatthewEHarbowy, Mercurywoodrose, Mr.fruit, Nigholith, Nihilo 01, Not LTD, Notjim, Paulscrawl,
Pegship, Plazak, Polisher of Cobwebs, Postdlf, Reedy, Rich Farmbrough, Saulpwanson, Shantavira, Socalboy, Staffwaterboy, Suruena, Tagishsimon, Truman Burbank, Ukeu, Vanhoabui,
Wendell, ZeroEgo, 27 anonymous edits

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