Customer Reviews

Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and Reality, a Western Perspective

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One could be forgiven for assuming that this was yet another book from the popularising-of-science stable written to assuage the thirst for them by the general public. But I must ask Malin for that forgiveness. This book is the most lucid account of the significance and implications of quantum theory written to date. Unlike Hawking'sbook in which he was instructed not to make use of equations as each one costs so many readers (and yet still managing to write a text that few understand),

Malin never has a use for them because he writes as one dedicated to elucidation. He proceeds step by step, constantly summing up the main points. There is no obfuscation and no mystery. We are left in no doubt with regard to meaning, and the problems that remain to be solved are clearly outlined. Malin traces the history of quantum theory through the spirit of philosophy that imbues it. The founders of quantum theory did not work out these ideas as though they were merely puzzling phenomena. They were enthused by a sense of philosophical curiosity and dissatisfaction. Were it not for this, we may still be trying to work out the implications of the very small in a neo-Newtonian context. It is this emphasis on the philosophical that is contingent on the scientific that is the real subject here. The front cover reads "Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality", but these are not synonymous terms. Malin makes it clear that the former is an aspect of the latter, while philosophy already contains the perspective of the former as an intrinsic feature. This is clear from the ideas of Plato and Plotinus, but Malin emphasises their influence on another philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead. This is significant, because Whitehead is almost forgotten as a major figure, and yet there is not a statement in quantum physics that is not already prefigured in his philosophy. It is based on the relations between the temporal and the non-temporal, or eternal objects. Noting the dislike for "eternal objects" as a concept, Whitehead suggests that one use the idea of potential instead, an idea that is crucial to understanding quantum collapse. It is the relationship between the potential and the actual that is the stuff of quantum theory, and yet in Whitehead these are explored as a matter of course. The relationship between Whitehead's philosophy and quantum physics is the major contribution that Malin makes in the pursuit of the paradigm shift that currently evades us. Science, as Malin points out, is restricted in its relevance by its objectivating nature, which excludes the subject of cognizance from its domain of relevance. It is for this reason that reality in a scientific treatment is essentially inert. Malin points this out, quoting from Heisenberg, one of the leading figures in quantum theory. It is a great pity that these philosophical outpourings from scientists themselves are not more openly displayed, for we live in an age that assumes that all of reality can be captivated in a scientific concept. A paradigm shift, as Malin points out, must extend beyond the bounds of science since these exclude the very essence of that which defines the new paradigm. It is a rare thing these days to hear a scientist speaking so boldly concerning the limitations of their work, compared with Stephen Hawking, say, who through science hopes to know the mind of God, while assuming that philosophy ended with Wittgenstein. Perhaps if he had read Whitehead, he may have concluded differently. However, (and this `however' is intended as constructive criticism to help point the way into the new paradigm), Malin underestimates the significance of emotion as Whitehead employs it in his philosophy. He does not quote Whitehead on the subject, but a third party who interprets it: Victor Lowe is right, I believe, when he warns us of "the danger of reading too much into the term `feeling'..." Feeling is the relationship between the one who feels and that which is felt. This is not Whitehead's thought, but Lowe's. For Whitehead, the significance of emotion is central and crucial. Whitehead's actual words are: "It is an essential doctrine in the philosophy of organism, that the primary function of a proposition is to be relevant as a lure for feeling." It is this feeling that is the defining quality of Whitehead's philosophy. Without it, organism becomes a "system", to be understood in the traditional way that excludes the very thing that is the focus of attention for Whitehead. To reduce it to the terms of a relationship is to convert it into a mathematical equation and so negate the very principle that Malin is trying to introduce. In some ways, this is understandable, for to move towards the new paradigm requires the old to be discarded. This is happening in this book very slowly, but nonetheless it is moving. Consequently, in his chapter "Nature Alive", Malin writes:

If the universe is alive, emotions may well have cosmological significance. What he should be writing is "The universe is alive, and emotions do indeed have cosmological significance". To take this step forward, and speak with such a confidence that removes the doubt from it is a huge undertaking. Whitehead knew this and said so. Rationalism is an adventure in the clarification of thought, progressive and never final. But it is an adventure in which even partial success has importance.

Malin has had that partial success with this book, for no-one has come as close to this convergence between philosophy and science as he. I hope he will continue the adventure and find the courage to intuit the next step and involve himself more fully. Most certainly this is one of the few books you will read that does not feel finished. It is on an edge of discovery. It points somewhere. It points somehow. Read it!

This is an excellent book on the interface of science and philosophy. Ever since Capra's immensely successful 'The Tao of Physics', there has been widespread interest in the connections between modern theoretical physics and eastern religion. While opening many minds to a deeper sense of spirituality, this also may have helped to close many minds to the possibilities of a genuine Western spirituality. In this fascinating and readable book, Professor Malin succeeds in two important respects: First, through his clear exposition, and the use of charming dialogues, he brings the challenging and mind-altering ideas of modern physics within the reach of just about anyone. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, he has contributed to the reinvigoration of our Western philosophical tradition by bringing the ideas of Plato, Plotinus, and Whitehead, among others, back into the forefront, and he has shown how these great thinkers have foreseen our contemporary scientific achievements, and can imbue them with sense and meaning.

The book provides a key that unlocks a doorway between science's world of objects and philosophy's world of ideas. The scientist might be disappointed that the book is not scientific enough and too philosophical. The philosopher might be disappointed that the book is too scientific and not philosophical enough. This book however is about neither science nor philosophy but a dialog that connects and relates the two worlds.

Stories and imagined dialogue between friends are used to assist the reader in absorbing the significance of scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. Each chapter is self-contained in terms of its intent, summary, conclusion and implication. The hallmark of this book is the way in which it brings out the essence of both worlds, simplifies it to a point of understanding and mutual enrichment.

Written in the style of a mystery that is unravelled with each step and then leaving the reader to write his/her own ending. Every paragraph provides solutions and insights but then asks new questions that keep the curious reader glued to the book. The reader is challenged to ascends from the world of science into the world of philosophy. To enable this challenge the author provides a rich foundation by elucidating the discoveries of scientist like Einstein, Bohr and Heisenberg as well as the ideas of western philosophers like Whitehead, Plato etc. The author does not claim to be enlightened with all the answers but rather invite the reader to explore the possibility of a new paradigm.

The new paradigm destroys a mechanical objectified universe where man is an insignificant spec of dust in a big universe and introduces a dynamic vibrating universe of interconnectivity. In this paradigm, nature is "alive" and man has a particular universal role to play. A paradigm is proposed where experience is the fundamental building block of the universe. This book is recommended to the layman that wishes to enrich and challenge his own worldview with the best of scientific thinking and philosophical contemplation.

This book is a magnificent gem of thoughtfulness and connectivity. The clarity of the author's presentation has been of enormous help to me in my investigations into the nature of reality.
The author, a first rate Quantum Theorist and Cosmologist, presents the thinking of the great scientists of the 20th century, such as Niels Bohr, Erwin Schroedinger, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, P.A.M. Dirac, and others in a clear and concise way accessible to all thinking individuals. His expositions and ideas deal with the central challenges of human investigations into the nature of reality as questioned by these great scientists. He wonderfully describes the famous Bohr-Einstein debates, the principle of objectivation stated by Schroedinger, the thinking of Dirac and Heisenberg. Dr. Malin elucidates Bell's theorem and its implications by the use of himself, Peter, and Julie all characters in this book who actually help to clarify many of the fine points.
Dr. Malin states that Quantum Mechanics provides a vital hint as to the nature of reality in its description of quantum collapse. In one of several examples Dr. Malin indicates that the release of an electron from one end of a cathode ray tube and its arrival at the other end - the screen - is a complex process in quantum physics. It is inaccurate to be speak of the electron's trajectory, since the electron is really an infinite field of potential wave functions in the intervening space, each with respective probabilities of appearing at a point on the screen. Of all these potential wave functions only one will become actual - the quantum collapse or the appearance of the electron at a definte spot on the screen. What or who chooses which actuality occurs is the question Dr. Malin asked Dirac. Dirac answered: "Nature chooses." Here begins Dr. Malin's deeper search into the presence of intelligence behind the visible world. Dr. Malin cites Plato's Timaeus, the fourth century Platonic philosopher Plotinus's Enneads, and the modern philosopher A. N. Whitehead's writings as sources for his view of reality. His reasoning is compelling.

I find myself reading and rereading this book and recommend it for those who sense that there is more to the world we see and sense.

After reading "Nature Loves to Hide" I hardly know where to start -- except to say the experience of reading this book has been life-changing, an amazing, brightly illuminating experience. Shimon Malin's book is the first to allow me (a poet/essayist) entry to unfamiliar subjects in an unexpectedly familiar way; I found myself saying "yes! I've thought this, and this!" again and again -- a tribute to Malin's ability to show us what we didn't know we knew. "Nature . . ." has also allowed me to use the props of my own (lyrical) worldview to move through the far-ranging scientific theory presented -- as well as to review again, through a fresh, sharp lens much of "Western" Philosophy.I was rewarded again and again by Malin's rich and lucid prose and by his fictional characters Julie and Peter, and their all-too-human thrashing about in theoretical/philosophical realms. They were far more than "delightful" as the dust-jacket notes -- they were thoroughly palpable as creations of mind and voice -- and thus, their struggles to comprehend were believable and poignant. This is a truly astonishing work and one that I wholly recommend to anyone -- and especially to any non-physicist.

I essentially agree with the review written by Andrew Fyfe.
This book appeared, during the first several chapters, to be carefully considered and dutifully explanatory of quantum mechanics and it's historical background. (For that this book gets its 2 stars.)
However, the careful physicist becomes a loose cannon in later chapters, with offhand definitions of "alive" suddenly being given with no detailed attempt at explanation or support(consider this snippet: "Your hair is alive and so is your heart. But your heart is much more alive than your hair."), and bizarre appeals to emotion and authority that demonstrate the non-sequitor nature of these later chapters. The numerous citings of Plato and other ancient Greek sages is also supposed to convince us that we are only rediscovering (via quantum mechanics) what has been known all along.
The attempt is further made to reconcile quantum mechanics with the process philosophy of A. N. Whitehead. If you were predisposed to Whitehead's philosophy (personally, it does intrigue me somewhat) then you might be interested in the proposals, but otherwise the exercise only stretches one's imagination and patience that much further.
The use of contrived dialogues among imaginary people (in what I can only assume is an homage to Plato) as a way to explain aspects of quantum mechanics is more a nuisance than an aid, and the dialogues of the later chapters are like the chatter of cult members trying to indoctrinate a new recruit rather than any deeply reasoned Socratic argument.
To achieve a stance of mysticism does not and should not require such torture of reason.
If you have previously read Frank Tipler's Physics of Immortality, then you will understand what I mean when I say: what starts out as an apparently studiously crafted book turns out to be a frantic, speculative, and poorly reasoned conclusion.

A quirky, strange and interesting book, that covers, in three parts, the central dilemma of quantum mechanics, an attempted solution, and the perceived implications of this.

The dilemma in question is the "quantum measurement problem," best described by Brian Greene in his excellent book, "The Fabric of the Cosmos." Malin's own coverage is interesting, and different to anything I've read, but I don't think it is necessarily the clearest. Malin starts with some philosophical background, dealing with the philosophy of Ernst Mach, and his demand for exactitude and explicitness. This kicks off a discussion of quantum mechanics that seems to focus on the philosophical struggle involved more than the science. That is consistent with the nature of the book, for although Malin is a professional physicist, he is dealing with the meaning of a scientific problem, not the problem itself. Even so, it seems to obscure things, because the author basically tries to do two things at once: explain enough of quantum mechanics to be understood, and set up a kind of high voltage power struggle between ideas. I don't think he is quite successful in either.

In the second section, Malin presents his own solution to the quantum measurement problem. It is only here that he explains what the big problem is, and he only does so briefly. For the unitiated, quantum particles (such as electrons) can exist in a "superposition" of states, but when observed, the superposition "collapses," meaning that only one of the states is actually observed. Much has been written about this, but no one knows how or why the collapse happens. Malin's solution is not ever clear (to me at least) but it seems to be that nature is alive, and chooses to do things, as if by its own will. I don't know how this helps, and I couldn't find any place where it was actually explained. It seems to be justified by assertions about levels of reality and aliveness, if that makes sense, so try for example, "But your heart is much more alive than your hair." If that helps you anywhere, good luck to you.

Malin then goes on to discuss philosophical views of the universe, in order to show that his theory is justified by ancient and modern (but largely forgotten) wisdom. In part 2, he uses the philosophy of Whitehead and Plato (especially the Timaeus), and in part 3, Plotinus, to show that there is another paradigm that could make sense of this "aliveness." I don't think there's much of a connection, but it is here that the book gets interesting anyway. Whitehead's "process philosophy" is an attempt to reduce everything to one fundamental substance, for which he chooses "throbs of experience." The relationship to quantum mechanics is that they both contrast the non-reality of actual stuff "out there" and the reality of things when observed (ie. experienced) by us (or the universe) so the primary reality is, in this view, the one inside any living being. The discussion of Plato centres on his theory of Forms, using in particular the Timaeus to suggest the existence of some kind of supernatural higher intelligence that could (apparently) imbue inanimate objects with some kind of life. It should be noted that the Timaeus is considered one of Plato's daftest works. The discussion of Plotinus deals with his theory of the One, which is some kind of supreme being, and the way the hierarchy of forms or essences which descends from the One influences the cosmos and the biosphere. The underpinning thread throughout these sections is a rejection of the subject-object distinction in favour of some kind of transcendent holism, which is really mysticism rather than science or philosophy. I'm sorry if none of this is clear, but neither is the book. At some point you just catch the gist of what he is saying, and then you can just take it or leave it.

The book includes interesting digressions in the form of dialogues between fictitious characters, Julie and Peter, and the author himself. Julie and Peter effectively play Mulder and Scully, with Malin as some other character who controls the discussion between the believer and the pained skeptic. There are several of these throughout the book. They are useless for making sense of the actual ideas, but I trust it's clear that I didn't take the book quite that seriously. The dialogues are great fun, and the characters are portrayed warmly and sensitively.

As philosophy, the book fails. It was clearly written as a presentation of a new idea and a new paradigm, and to justify his strange thoughts, the author portrays a presumed philosophical struggle between paradigms, to say we are due for a new one. The argument, when searched for among the loose generalisations, appears wanting, indeed totally inadequate.

However, it will appeal to many, including writers and thinkers looking for inspiration. It is surprisingly well written, far above the level of most popular science, and the author reveals a talent I did not think very many physicists possessed. My favourite part is the start of Chapter 18, which you might be able to check out if you can find the book in a library. The start of section 4 in the same chapter is also a gem. It is not a great book, but well worth a read.

I met Shimon Malin at the Towards a Science of Consciousness Conference in Tucson; an elderly man with a cane. He gave a talk on the philosopher Whitehead--using neither PowerPoint, computer graphics, not even an overhead projector. Rather he read a 10 page typed paper. It was one of the best papers at the conference.

So when his book came out, I read it immediately--the first time. Now, having read it a number of times, it remains one of the best works available on consciousness and its relation to quantum physics. It is not another simplistic New Age collection of platitudes. Rather it is deep and profound exploration of the nature of reality.

Malin uses three conceptual frameworks: quantum mechanics, Whitehead's philosophy and the Neoplatontism of Plotinus. By constantly interweaving themes from each framework, he challenges each to a more comprehensive and inclusive view of reality.

Because the ideas are often subtle and not easily graspable on first reading, he uses an effective technique to aid the reader in grasping difficult ideas. He periodically shifts to an imaginary dialogue between the author and two astronauts--Peter (psychology major) and Julie who provide experiential examples of concepts in physics and who ask questions to grasp the elusive philosophical ideas.

This work provides a basis for a modern spirituality--one that is fully compatible with science, philosophy and mysticism.

This is one of the best books I've read lately. It not only does a great job of elucidating some of the difficult concepts in quantum theory; it also reveals the assumptions upon which our current science is based--and the limitations inherent in those assumptions.

I disagree with the Publisher's Weekly reviewer who calls the imagined conversations between the astronauts "silly." That might be the case for someone who is completely familiar with the intricacies of physics, but they were useful to a layperson who is interested in understanding more.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand the basics of modern physics, and who also wants to consider some compelling philosophical implications of these new discoveries.

The part of the book that focuses on Qunatum Mechanics (QM) is particularly valuable in that it provides the reader with a sufficiently detailed analysis of QM in "every day" language. The aformentioned information is presented by depicting the intense discussions among Bohr, Schrödinger, Einstein, and Heisenberg that took place over several decades, which makes for a fun read.
The connection to platonic and whiteheadian thought is less compelling. While the connection is certainly an interesting possibility, Malin does not always lay bare his reasoning behind asserting that the connection is there. That is, the argumentation in support of his thesis is weak in some parts. That said, however, the spirit of the book is not to make a water-tight case for the connection between QM and ancient wisdom but to get us to consider the possibility, which Malin does make clear at several points in the book.
Finally, the attentive reader will notice that the book needs some proofreading. At times Malin uses tenses incorrectly, words ambiguously, and punctuation incorrectly.