The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions of Life Into a Science of Substainability

The author of the bestselling The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life explores the profound social implications of emerging scientific principles and provides an innovative framework for using them to understand and solve some of the most important issues of our time. For most of history, scientific investigation was based on linear thinking. But the 1980's 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 ever 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 through 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 the 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. Author Biography: FRITJOF CAPRA, a world-renowned physicist, is the author of The Tao of Physics, The Turning Point, Uncommon Wisdom, The Web of Life, and coauthor of Belonging to the Universe , winner of an American Book Award in 1992. He is the director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, where he lives. In this book, the author applies the principles of complexity theory to an analysis of the broad sphere of all human interactions. The author points out 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." The author also 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 a plan for designing ecologically sustainable communities and technologies as alternatives to the current economic globalization before introducing the new unified framework for the understanding of biological and social phenomena, I would like to revisit the age-old question "What is life?" and look at it with fresh eyes.