Customer Reviews

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems

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Frijtof Capra has made a literary career out of bridging previously polarized points of view. The Web of Life raises the concepts in The Tao of Physics to another quantum level. Profound not only in its understanding of 20th century science and the paradigm shift implied by systems theory, this book has social, political and even spiritual ramifications that challenge many of our most comfortable presumptions about "the real world." Offering the architecture of the web as a replacement for linear thinking, the book leads us through important examples to the revolutionary conclusions

I was delighted by the initial sections of the book - the first time I have seen 'systems thinking' properly defined, and also a very useful sketch of the historical development of these ideas. I will therefore be recommending it to my students - it really is a useful book. But do I agree with it? I think the whole thesis falls down in the application to ecosystems; here the evidence gets really shaky and I wasn't convinced.

This is a wonderful book. In his recent books Capra has marvelously introduced us to thought, and work, that are generally disparate in the public mind. His narrative, while addressing complex material, is exceedingly easy to read and to grasp. All of us "bring forth" broader personal horizons from engaging his books. Thanks Professor Capra.

In his own book Leon Lederman---who won a Nobel Prize in physics---rebuked Capra for having the temerity to suggest a connection between physics and eastern mysticism-----an amazing arrogance in view of Lederman's book title: "The God Particle". Anyone who has read both authors will recall Lederman's flashing egotism, as against the virtual absence of ego in Capra's writing. Clearly Capra's mind has ventured into realms that Lederman has yet to even imagine.

If you are curious about the nature, mechanisms, and "reach" of life, and about those who endeavor in this search, THE WEB OF LIFE (and THE TAO OF PHYSICS) will fascinate you.

While I found this book very readable and a good survey of ideas from so called systems theory, I often wondered to what extent it was a subjectively revised version of what could be more objectively portrayed. What I found most telling in this regard was the fact that although he admits that systems thinking has died as an academic movement, he fails to mention the significant community of scientists (many of them Nobel prize winners) that have gathered at the Sante Fe Institute to study complex adaptive systems. Capra even very selectively mentions Kauffman's work without acknowledging the thriving academic community he is involved in (except in one sentence as a kind of afterthought). His intuitive synthesis is interesting but like most systems thinking an appealing guess that never seems to amount to much without the science to back it up.

Dr. Capra has created here a masterpiece! I have read this book cover-to-cover at least three times and am still absorbing new things with each reading. Taking from fields as varied as physics and biology ( in each of which Dr. Capra holds a Ph.D. ), he has created a pardigm shift in the minds of his readers.

This book is not easy going for those of us schooled in the humanities, but is well worth the cost. I give it my highest recommendation!

If you can put up with the author's ego and the many small errors in his examples (Most of his examples in economics are incorrect), this book is one of the best overviews of modern systems thinking that you can read. Highly recommended

I bought this book for my husband. He loves this book. He has loaned it to several people to read.

I need to find this book of Capra in spanish. Would you please help me? Thanks,

Please, please, do yourself a favor and don't buy this book. I was so excited to read it, then after 50 pages, I was so excited to throw it away. I just threw it in the trash.
The book is just a bunch of disconnected thoughts with no organization, no style, no interesting revelations, no coherent,readable paragraphs. The fact that this book's editor let it get published means the editor needs to be replaced. - You want to read a good book you can't put down, read 'Complexity'.