Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People [Hardcover]

Fritjof Capra (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In attempting to show how encounters with various people fueled the writing of his bestsellers The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, Capra's new book is alternately superficial and meaty. That he once sat next to Alan Watts at a dinner party, heard Krishnamurti lecture and exchanged observations with Indira Gandhi is revealing of nothing; neither is the detailed synopsis of the author's reading habits. More interesting are conversations recorded here with physicists Werner Heisenberg and Geoffrey Chew, psychotherapists Stanislav Grof and R. D. Laing, economists Hazel Henderson and E. F. Schumacher, and with figures such as systems theorist Gregory Bateson, holistic cancer therapist Carl Simonton and feminist Charlene Spretnak. How Capra came to perceive parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism, then went beyond this to a systems viewpoint embracing ecology and spiritual awareness, is the heady theme of this self-preoccupied but often stimulating set of talks. (January
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Capra, author of The Tao of Physics , is famous for his unique blend of physics and mysticism. Here he traces the development of his thought by presenting a series of conversations with many influential thinkers, including Werner Heisenberg, R. D. Laing, Alan Watts, and Margaret Lock. These conversations took place between 1969 and the "Big Sur Dialogues" symposium in 1979 and range in subject from science to politics, anthropology to holistic medicine. Capra feels that his contribution has been merely to establish links between the ideas of these highly original thinkers, all of whom figured largely in his evolution from a conventional physicist to the spokesman for a new vision of reality. C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 334 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Printing edition (January 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671473220
• ISBN-13: 978-0671473228
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,184,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine introduction to Capra., February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Uncommon Wisdom (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that acquaints you with the intellectual odyssey and personality of Mr. Capra. Filled with brilliant insights and fascinating discussions with people like E.F. Schumacher, R.D. Laing, Gregory Bateson, Geoffrey Chew, Krishnamurti, Warner Heisenberg, and many other giants of the 20th century who shaped Capra's thoughts in the writing of Tao of Physics and The Turning Point. Gives you an underpinning for The Web of Life too. An insider's multidisciplinary look into the intellectual cutting edge of the 60s and 70s. Warmly written and very pleasant. I highly recommend it as a starting point for a deep understanding of Fritjof Capra.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Treasure, March 5, 2003

By 

Robert Paterson "Rob Paterson" (Charlottetown, P E Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People (Hardcover)

I have found all of FC's books very helpful. He has been able to take many exceptionally complex ideas in science and make them accessible to the lay reader - such as myself. In particular, he has made the link between the New Physics and Living Systems and the ancient wisdom.

Uncommon Wisdom takes a different approach to his other books. His traditional books are based naturally on explaining the ideas. This book is grounded in experience and in relationship. Here FC takes a personal and musing approach. He shares his own life journey, doubts, fears and hopes, as he meets, talks and develops relationships with some of the great thinkers of our time. He shows us through his story how his thinking develops. We as readers share the unfolding process in his own being as he too struggles with the import of what he is learning.

The ideas in this book are embedded in story and in people. As such they are more "sticky" than ideas simply defined and outlined. It is one thing to have Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle explained. It is so much better to listen, via FC's ears and eyes, to Heisenberg talk.

Another lasting impression I received from the book is what a time the 1970's 1980's was. Was it our Golden Age? Much of the book is located in the 1970's and 1980's when the idea of the breakdown of the Cartesian view and the rise of an interrelated view of reality was so new.

The book is out of print and I encourage him to persuade his publisher to get it back on the shelves. Why? In middle age, our youth has a pull. FC's current writing is already looking back at the 1970's which he now sees as a "Turning Point". Now in late middle age he and many millions of us are looking back with a new perspective. It is worth re-discovering the wonder of that time. In Uncommon Wisdom we travel back with FC and sit at his shoulder as he hears for the first time the ideas that are changing our world 30-years later. Maybe we have digested this time enough and we need to remember when we questioned more and to pick up the gifts we left aside as we turned away to raise our children and to get on in the world.

A wonderful book full of compassion and wonder

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars leading edge, March 10, 2003

By 

Author Brian Wallace (Mind Transmission, Inc.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People (Hardcover)

Enlightening, sometimes radical penetrations of thought revealed by one eminently qualified at the task.

Capra explores leading edge thought in a readable and enriching way.

Excellent book.