The Web of Life: A New Understanding of Living Systems

US: Knopf Doubleday Publishing G., 1999. Very Good. The vitality and accessibility of Fritjof Capra's ideas have made him perha ps the most eloquent spokesperson of the latest findings emerging at the fr ontiers of scientific, social, and philosophical thought. In his internatio nal bestsellers The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, he juxtaposed phy sics and mysticism to define a new vision of reality. In The Web of Life, C apra takes yet another giant step, setting forth a new scientific language to describe interrelationships and interdependence of psychological, biolog ical, physical, social, and cultural phenomena-the "web of life." During the past twenty-five years, scientists have challenged conventional views of evolution and the organization of living systems and have develope d new theories with revolutionary philosophical and social implications. Fr itjof Capra has been at the forefront of this revolution. In The Web of Lif e, Capra offers a brilliant synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroug hs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, chaos theory, and other explan ations of the properties of organisms, social systems, and ecosystems. Capr a's surprising findings stand in stark contrast to accepted paradigms of me chanism and Darwinism and provide an extraordinary new foundation for ecolo gical policies that will allow us to build and sustain communities without diminishing the opportunities for future generations. Now available in paperback for the first time, The Web of Life is cutting-edge science writing in the tradition of James Gleick's Chaos, Gregory Bateson's Mind and Matter, and Ilya Prigogine's Order Out of Chaos.