The Narrative Universe (Advances in Systems Theory, Complexity, and the Human Sciences) [Paperback]

Gianluca Bocchi (Author), Mauro Ceruti (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572732806 | ISBN-13: 978-1572732803 | Publication Date: May 10, 2002

This text presents the reader with a reinterpretation of the stories we have told ourselves about our origins, in mythology, history, cosmology, evolution and genetics. Topics include the Big Bang, genetic drift, attractors and fractals, languages and civilizations, and myths and religions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Press (NJ) (May 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572732806
• ISBN-13: 978-1572732803
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,920,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About The Narrative Universe:, January 16, 2004

By 

Bill McConnell "Bill McConnell" (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Narrative Universe (Advances in Systems Theory, Complexity, and the Human Sciences) (Paperback)

The Narrative Universe by Gianluca Bocchi and Mauro Ceruti is fascinating to read. It is indeed a remarkable feature of modern science, from high energy physics to chemistry and biology, that we have moved to a different view of nature that emphasises the narrative element levels of observation. Gianluca Bocchi and Mauro Ceruti present a global and impressive view of this narrative aspect starting with mythology and the early history of humanity and going from there to biology, physics, and chemistry. The Narrative Universe is a unique book. It will be of great interest for everyone who cares about the memory of the past as well as humanity's position in the universe.

Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Laureate
Free University, Brussels, co-author, Order out of Chaos

A remarkable work of transdisciplinary scholarship. The Narrative
Universe is a rich and fascinating work that offers a new perspective
on evolution that emphasizes the importance of human choices and
actions, and the possibility for creating a partnership world.

Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice & The Blade, Sacred Pleasure, and Tomorrow's Children

Drawing from biology, complexity science, cultural history, cosmology, linguistics, mythology, anthropology, as well as the history of religions, literature, and twentieth century film, Bocchi and Ceruti have crafted our time's most comprehensive and compact survey of contemporary science. Their choice of scientists is unfailingly accurate, and their presentation is simultaneously thorough and clear. Their book will be most appreciated by individuals who are outside the world of science, but have on occasion wondered what the excitement is all about. Here, in a single volume, is a record of most of our century's greatest scientific triumphs.

Brian Swimme, California Institute of
Integral Studies, co-author, The Universe Story

The Narrative Universe is a wondrous book, whose very title is the message. The authors takes us down the highways and byways of the world of knowledge, to tell us that we live not only in a contingent universe but are engaged in the creation of contingent knowledges (the plural here is
Important). We are forced to think about assumptions we never realized needed to be questioned. It is a resolutely hopeful, creative work about a creative universe. It is at the same time a very rigorous exercise - science at its best.

Immanuel Wallerstein, SUNY Binghampton, author, The end of the world as we know it. Social science for the 21st century

Reading The Narrative Universe was a real pleasure. Ceruti and Bocchi have written a challenging, brilliant book that is required reading for anybody who wishes to participate in the intellectual revolution through which we are now living.

Jerome Bruner, New York University, author, Actual Minds, Possible Worlds

A marvelous book in several senses: I marvel at Bocchi and Ceruti's erudition, and at the grace with which they apply it. Here we have a masterful narrative well told about the history of consciousness, from the earliest dawnings of human awareness to the latest reflections on evolutionary theory about our evolution.

James Ogilvy, Global Business Network, co-author, Seven Tomorrows, author, Living Without Goals