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For most of history, scientific investigation
was based on linear thinking. But the 1980s brought a revolutionary
change. With the advent of improved computer power, scientists
could apply complexity theory -- nonlinear thinking -- to
scientific processes far more easily than before. Physicist
Fritjof Capra was at the forefront of the revolution, and
in The Web of Life, he extended its scope by showing
the impact of complexity theory on living organisms. In
The Hidden Connections, he breaks another frontier,
this time applying the principles of complexity theory to
an analysis of the broad sphere of all human interactions.
Capra posits that in order to sustain life
in the future, the principles underlying our social institutions
must be consistent with the organization that nature has
evolved to sustain the "web of life." In a lucid
and convincing argument Capra explains how the theoretical
ideas of science can be applied to the practical concerns
of our time. Covering every aspect of human nature and society,
he discusses such vital matters as the management of human
organizations, the challenges and dangers of economic globalization,
and the nature and problems of biotechnology. He concludes
with an authoritative, often provocative plan for designing
ecologically sustainable communities and technologies as
alternatives to the current economic globalization.
A brilliant, incisive examination of the
relationship between science and our social systems, The
Hidden Connections will spark enormous debate in the
scientific community and inspire us to think about the future
of humanity in a new way.
Fritjof Capra, a world-renowned physicist,
is the author of The Tao of Physics, The Turning
Point, Uncommon Wisdom, The Web of Life,
and the coauthor of Belonging to the Universe, winner
of the American Book Award in 1992. He is the director of
the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, where
he lives.
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