Amazon.com Review
At an Esalen Institute meeting in 1976, tai chi master Al Huang said that the Chinese word for physics is
Wu Li, "patterns of organic energy." Journalist Gary Zukav and the others present developed the idea of physics as the dance of the Wu Li Masters--the teachers of physical essence. Zukav explains the concept further:
The Wu Li Master dances with his student. The Wu Li Master does not teach, but the student learns. The Wu Li Master always begins at the center, the heart of the matter.... This book deals not with knowledge, which is always past tense anyway, but with imagination, which is physics come alive, which is Wu Li.... Most people believe that physicists are explaining the world. Some physicists even believe that, but the Wu Li Masters know that they are only dancing with it.
The "new physics" of Zukav's 1979 book comprises quantum theory, particle physics, and relativity. Even as these theories age they haven't percolated all that far into the collective consciousness; they're too far removed from mundane human experience not to need introduction. The Dancing Wu Li Masters remains an engaging, accessible way to meet the most profound and mind-altering insights of 20th-century science. --Mary Ellen Curtin
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'Stripped of mathematics, physics becomes pure enchantment'...I don't care how dumb you are at science; you'll come away from this book feeling like a Wu Li master yourself."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt,
The New York Times"Zukav is such a skillful expositor, with such amiable style, that it is hard to imagine a layman who would not find this book enjoyable and informative."
--Martin Gardner, staff writer,
Scientific American
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.