The philosopher's stone : chaos, synchronicity, and the hidden order of the world

F. David Peat, physicist, philosopher, and author, continues the ground-breaking work he began in 'Synchronicity: The Bridge Between Matter and Mind' in this astonishing new look at the emerging science of synchronicity. From Schrödinger's cat to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this rapidly developing field draws on both psychology and physics to examine the true nature of coincidence—the sudden recognition of the overreaching patterns that organize, inform, and illuminate our everyday lives. In 'The Philosopher's Stone', Dr. Peat reveals an order to existence that is even deeper than we at first realized, a universal connectedness out of which mind and matter emerge. Most exciting of all, he suggests that the very atoms of our bodies are “conscious” of this order, giving us access to a limitless source of creativity and health. In language at once lucid and lyric, Dr. Peat explains the interrelated phenomena of serendipity and chaos science, the scientific correspondences of Eastern philosophies and Western physics, the linguistic properties of the genetic code, the connection between cell communication and the immune system, and much more. 'The Philosopher's Stone' is a guidebook to the way the world works based on the most exciting and revolutionary of recent scientific discoveries—that beneath the apparent chaos there is a deep-seated order to the universe. Cover Half title Imprint Contents Introduction The Search for Meaning Synchronicities Authentic Experience Chapter 1 Maps and Journeys A World of Maps New Maps for Old Maps and Perspectives Grids and Racks Cartesian Coordinates Phase Space The Power of Prediction Implications Chapter 2 The Pyramid of Law Passion and Understanding Ultimate Explanations From Atoms to Superstrings Symmetry Breaking Inscape and Landscape Reality as Flux Flux and Symmetry Penrose and Gravity Chapter 3 Quantum Theory: From Determinism to Ambiguity The Double-Slit Experiment Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle Quantum Measurements and Objectivity Hilbert Space Schrödinger’s Cat Quantum Interpretations Chapter 4 Life Forms Life Forms and Living Systems Candles, Crystals, and Superconductors Plasmas and Crowds Cats and Color Hilbert Space Revisited Quantum Bureaucracy Penrose Tiles and Quasi Crystals The Collapse of Ambiguity Crystallization of Form Schrödinger's Cat Revived Chapter 5 The Symphony of Life Coherence in Biological Systems Light and Life An Ocean of Information DNA: The Molecule That Listens Bohm's Causal Interpretation Communication and Change The Dancing Brain Signals and Identity Quantum Communication Chapter 6 The Heartbeat of Creation Time in a Unitary Universe Relativistic Time The Arrow of Time A Nonunitary Universe Nonunitary Quantum Theory The Heartbeat of the Universe The Spirit Breathing Time and the Moment Time Beyond Dimension Time and Time Again The Universe as a Work of Art Clinging to Form Natural Law The Orders of Space Rupert Sheldrake, Morphic Fields, and Unitarity Remembrance of Things Past Human Thought and Scientific Order Emergence of New Structures Chapter 7 The Chaotic Universe: Fractals, Intelligence, and Freedom The New Value of Knowledge The Birth of Order Chaos Theory Fractals Measuring a Coastline New Dimensions Generating Fractals The Mandelbrot Set Trees and Fractals Algorithms and Intelligence Pendulums Limit Cycles Spontaneous Structure and Phase Space Landscapes A Landscape of Life The Immune System Strange Attractors Sensitivity Chaotic Bugs What Is Chaos? Infinite Sensitivity Intermittency Bifurcations Implications Chapter 8 Gentle Action for a Harmonious World The Tree of Life From Tragedy to Comedy Control or Illusion? A Web of Connection Action or Paralysis? Creative Suspension Movement Without Motion Unfolding the Intention Listening to the Organization Gentle Action Splashes and Ripples Nonlocal Action Gentle Action and the Quantum Potential Social Action Brain Dance Solitons Action and Chaos Entropy and Gentle Action Localization Conclusion Endnotes Index Looks at similarities between Eastern philosophy and Western physics, the connection between cell communicatioin and the immune system, and linguistic properties of the genetic code