Patterns of Connection - by Fritjof Capra

About the Book

Fritjof Capra, scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, presents the evolution of his thought over five decades in Patterns of Connection.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Silver Medal for Environment/Ecology in the 2022 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards

Fritjof Capra, scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, presents the evolution of his thought over five decades in Patterns of Connection. First introduced in the late 1950s to the work of Werner Heisenberg, a founder of quantum mechanics, Capra quickly intuited the connections between the discoveries of quantum physics and the traditions of Eastern philosophy--resulting in his first book, the bestselling The Tao of Physics. This synthesis, representative of the change from the mechanistic worldview of Descartes and Newton to a systemic, ecological one, went on to inform Capra's thinking about the life sciences, ecology, and environmental policy. His observations of sustainable communities in nature inspired his work on systems theory--the complex web of interrelated processes that organize everything from biological systems to social, cultural, and political systems.

Today Fritjof Capra remains a major figure at the crossroads of physics, spirituality, environmentalism, and systems theory. Organized thematically and chronologically, the essays in Patterns of Connection document the revolutionary and far-reaching intellectual journey of one of the major public thinkers of the last half-century.

Review Quotes

"Fritjof Capra is a rare innovative thinker who, for five decades, has weaved together trends of thought with unique imagination: Eastern religions and quantum physics, the fate of the Earth and systems thinking, the notion of deep ecology and ethics, to name a few. This essential collection of essays celebrates Capra's worldview, calling for the collective awakening as a species that seems to want to sabotage its own collective future."--Marcelo Gleiser, 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate, and author of The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning

"Fritjof Capra is one of the foremost thinkers at the interface between modern physics and an encompassing worldview looking toward a sustainable future. In these essays, he has provided us with the intellectual tools to probe these critical and emerging ideas."--Jonathan Ashmore, contributor to The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference, Second Edition

"This book is a gift to those who now benefit from Capra's rigorous, decades-long process of integration, demonstrating his pivotal role in the development of a new conceptual paradigm that offers a potential pathway for humanity's future flourishing."--Jeremy Lent, author of The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning and The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to find Our Place in the Universe

"This is the chronicle of an intellectually important and interesting life--Capra's understanding of systems thinking becomes ever more useful as we enter this period of systemic collapse. It's a story of routes we never really took and that we must now find again."--Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

"This synthesis of the work of Fritjof Capra spanning five decades provides an essential systems-thinking framework to understand and tackle the complex socioecological challenges confronting the planet."--Miguel A. Altieri, author of Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture