Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: paradigms in science and society; Part I. The Mechanistic World View: 1. The Newtonian world-machine; 2. The mechanistic view of life; 3. Mechanistic social thought; Part II. The Rise of Systems Thinking: 4. From the parts to the whole; 5. Classical systems theories; 6. Complexity theory; Part III. A New Conception of Life: 7. What is life?; 8. Order and complexity in the living world; 9. Darwin and biological evolution; 10. The quest for the origin of life on Earth; 11. The human adventure; 12. Mind and consciousness; 13. Science and spirituality; 14. Life, mind, and society; 15. The systems view of health; Part IV. Sustaining the Web of Life: 16. The ecological dimension of life; 17. Connecting the dots: systems thinking and the state of the world; 18. Systemic solutions; Bibliography; Index.
The first volume to integrate life's biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions into a single, coherent framework.
Fritjof Capra is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, and serves on the faculty of Schumacher College, Devon. He is a physicist and systems theorist, and has been engaged in a systematic examination of the philosophical and social implications of contemporary science for the past 35 years. Pier Luigi Luisi is Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Rome 3. He started his career at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) where he became full professor in Chemistry and initiated the interdisciplinary Cortona Weeks. His main research focuses on the experimental, theoretical and philosophical aspects of the origin of life and self-organisation of synthetic and natural systems.
'Partly an enjoyable survey of exciting new developments in systems
biology, valuable to any student of biology or science, and partly
a bold blueprint for how we might preserve our future on Earth.'
New Scientist
'A magisterial study of the scientific basis for an integrated
worldview grounded in the wholeness that generations of one-eyed
reductionists could not see. The authors succeed brilliantly!'
David W. Orr, Oberlin College
'… gives us a sound synthesis of the best science and theory on the
connectedness of all living things, the dynamics of emergence and
self-organization as conceived by Francisco Varela. This volume
offers a profound framework for understanding our place on the
planet, for better or worse. And if we apply the insights offered
by Capra and Luisi, it will be for the better … should be required
reading for today's young, tomorrow's leaders, and anyone who cares
about life on this planet.' Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional
Intelligence and Ecological Intelligence
'What is life? What is a human being? How can new discoveries about
nature and ourselves keep us from becoming the first
self-endangered species? Capra and Luisi's dazzling synthesis
explains how moving beyond mechanistic, linear, reductionist habits
is revealing startling new answers to perennial questions of
philosophy and practice. Sir Francis Bacon's goal of 'the
enlargement of the bounds of Human Empire, to the effecting of all
things possible' has put humanity in serious trouble. But today,
rebuilding our thinking, language, and actions around Darwin, not
Descartes, and around modern biology, not outmoded physics, creates
rich new options. Driven by the co-evolution of business with civil
society, these can build a fairer, healthier, cooler, safer world.
The Systems View of Life is a lucid, wide-ranging guide to living
maturely, kindly, and durably with each other and with other beings
on the only home we have.' Amory B. Lovins, Rocky Mountain
Institute
'… this book feels like a Rosetta stone for me, unlocking
connections and roots of a panoply of different ideas and concepts.
It starts walking us through the history of science – and how
scientific models influenced most aspect of cultures … This book
pulls the big changes together and integrates them, across
disciplines into a glorious big picture, for each field … As I was
reading the portion of the book covering the history of systems
thinking … I realized that I was suddenly feeling very excited,
like I was in a movie, sitting on the edge of my seat … This is
what a great writer and a great book are supposed to do … It has
had a huge impact on my way of thinking about so many things. It
doesn't matter what your area of work or interest is. This book is
essential reading to face the future with eyes wide open.' Rob
Kall, OpEdNews.com
'… a valuable overview of the discipline.' Stephen Lewis, The
Biologist
'What a fine, erudite, synoptic, lovely book!' Stuart Kauffman,
University of Pennsylvania and the Institute for Systems Biology,
Seattle
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