Fritjof Capra

For more than three decades, David Orr has been one of the leading voices of the environmental movement, championing the cause of ecological literacy in higher education, helping to establish and shape the field of ecological design, and working tirelessly to raise awareness of the threats to future generations posed by humanity's current unsustainable trajectory. "Hope Is an Imperative" brings together in a single volume Professor Orr's most important works, including classics such as "What Is Education For?" one of the most widely reprinted essays in the environmental literature, "The Campus and the Biosphere", which helped launch the green campus movement, and "Loving Children: A Design Problem", which renowned theologian and philosopher Thomas Berry called 'the most remarkable essay I've read in my whole life'. The book features thirty-three essays, along with an introductory section that considers the evolution of environmentalism, section introductions that place the essays into a larger context, and a foreword by physicist and author Fritjof Capra. "Hope Is an Imperative" is a comprehensive collection of works by one of the most important thinkers and writers of our time. It offers a complete introduction to the writings of David Orr for readers new to the field, and represents a welcome compendium of key essays for long-time fans. The book is a must-have volume for every environmentalist's bookshelf.

A special edition of the "brilliant" best-selling classic on the paradoxes of modern physics and their relationship to concepts of Eastern mysticism (New York Magazine) The Tao of Physics brought the mystical implications of subatomic physics to popular consciousness for the very first time. Many books have been written in the ensuing years about the connections between quantum theory and the ideas of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, but Fritjof Capra's text serves as the foundation on which the others have been built--and its wisdom has stood the test of time. Its publication in more than twenty-three languages stands as testimony to its universal applicability and its enduring significance. This special edition celebrates the thirty-fifth anniversary of this early Shambhala best seller that has gone on to become a true classic. It includes a fresh cover design and a new preface by the author reflecting on further discoveries and developments in the years since the book's original publication. "Physicists do not need mysticism," Dr. Capra says, "and mystics do not need physics, but humanity needs both." It is a message of timeless importance.

Leonardo da Vinci's scientific explorations were virtually unknown during his lifetime, despite their extraordinarily wide range. He studied the flight patterns of birds to create some of the first human flying machines; designed military weapons and defenses; studied optics, hydraulics, and the workings of the human circulatory system; and created designs for rebuilding Milan, employing principles still used by city planners today. Perhaps most importantly, Leonardo pioneered an empirical, systematic approach to the observation of nature-what is known today as the scientific method. Drawing on over 6,000 pages of Leonardo's surviving notebooks, acclaimed scientist and bestselling author Fritjof Capra reveals Leonardo's artistic approach to scientific knowledge and his organic and ecological worldview. In this fascinating portrait of a thinker centuries ahead of his time, Leonardo singularly emerges as the unacknowledged "father of modern science."

Current health policy is required to respond to a constantly changing social and political environment characterised, particularly in Europe, by ageing populations, increased migration, and growing inequalities in health and services. With health systems under increasing strain there is a sense that we need to seek new means of determining health policy. Much political debate focuses on managerial issues such as the levels of health funding and the setting and missing of targets. Meanwhile our moral imperatives, our values and principles, go relatively unexamined. What are these values? Can we agree their validity and salience? How do we manage the paradox of competing goods? Can we find new ways of talking about, and resolving, our conflicting values and competing priorities in order to create sound, appropriate, and just health policies for the 21st Century? Written by leading health policy makers and academics from many countries, "Constructive Conversations about Health" examines in depth the underlying values and principles of health policy, and posits a more enlightened public and political discourse. The book will be invaluable for those involved in health policy making and governance, politicians, healthcare managers, researchers, ethicists, health and social affairs media, health rights and patient participation groups. 'The literature on health policy is vast. On offer are models of health services, economic theory, management theory, disquisitions on ethical principles, social analyses, literally thousands of publications. In a globalised and electronically networked world, this literature has already generated its own particular language, a policy jargon replete with terms that look deceptively familiar, terms that will be much in evidence in what now follows, terms whose meanings require our closest attention.' - Marshall Marinker.

The author of The Tao of Physics applies the principles of complexity theory to an analysis of the vast expanse of all human relationships to examine the social impact of emerging scientific principles, discussing such important matters as the management of human organizations, the challenges and dangers of economic globalization, and the nature and problems of biotechnology. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

A fierce attack on globalism - and a manifesto for change - by one of the world's leading scientific writers.

I denna berömda, redan "klassiska" populärvetenskapliga bok om universums enhet påvisar fysikern Fritjof Capra viktiga paralleller mellan österländsk filosofi och religion och modern västerländsk naturvetenskap i synen på de universella gåtorna. Den nya fysikens rön ställs mot gamla urkunder från hinduism, buddhism, taoism och zen. Capra ger en levande bild av de komplexa mönster som tar form inför forskarnas ögon, mönster och paradoxer som mer och mer överensstämmer med många av de österländska uppfattningarna. Förord av Joachim Israel.

The vitality and accessibility of Fritjof Capra's ideas have made him perhaps the most eloquent spokesperson of the latest findings emerging at the frontiers of scientific, social, and philosophical thought. In his international bestsellers The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, he juxtaposed physics and mysticism to define a new vision of reality. In The Web of Life, Capra takes yet another giant step, setting forth a new scientific language to describe interrelationships and interdependence of psychological, biological, physical, social, and cultural phenomena--the "web of life." During the past twenty-five years, scientists have challenged conventional views of evolution and the organization of living systems and have developed new theories with revolutionary philosophical and social implications. Fritjof Capra has been at the forefront of this revolution. In The Web of Life, Capra offers a brilliant synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroughs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, chaos theory, and other explanations of the properties of organisms, social systems, and ecosystems. Capra's surprising findings stand in stark contrast to accepted paradigms of mechanism and Darwinism and provide an extraordinary new foundation for ecological policies that will allow us to build and sustain communities without diminishing the opportunities for future generations. Now available in paperback for the first time, The Web of Life is cutting-edge science writing in the tradition of James Gleick's Chaos, Gregory Bateson's Mind and Matter, and Ilya Prigogine's Order Out of Chaos.

Capra argues that at the end of the 20th century we are shifting away from the mechanistic world of Descartes and Newton to a holistic, ecological view. He establishes patterns between ideas from such diverse fields as Buddhism and quantum physics.

The challenge of the '90s is to create sustainable societies in which business and government can satisfy our current needs without diminishing the prospects for future generations. Business managers today are seeking guidance in the new ways of thinking that are called for to meet this challenge. This book takes a major step in that direction by helping business people identify what can be done to reduce the impact of their companies on the environment. It shows how to systematically set priorities and create an action plan for implementing improvements. It will also help sell an impact reduction program to top management. In contrast to the current practice of ""compliance auditing, "" a process focused on meeting governmental regulations, this Elmwood Institute guide shows how to conduct an ""eco-audit"" - a complete examination of an organization in relation to its long-term ecological sustainability. Such an audit scrutinizes every aspect of the organization and its operations, including product design and manufacture, management techniques, corporate culture and goals. Ecomanagement is the first book to provide a comprehensive and practical guide to the new era of business ecological responsibility. It features a framework for companies planning to design their own audits, and offers thirteen checklists to guide managers through the audit process, covering such topics as energy, materials, wastes, finance, marketing, transportation, and international business relations.

As we move into the 1980s, there is an increasing awareness that our civilization is going through a profound cultural transformation. At the heart of this transformation lies what is often called a "paradigm shift"-a dramatic change in the thoughts, perceptions, and values which form a particular vision of reality. The paradigm that is now shifting comprises a large number of ideas and values that have dominated our society for several hundred years; values that have been associated with various streams of Western culture, among them the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, The Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. They include the belief in the scientific method as the only valid approach to knowledge, the split between mind and matter, the view of nature as a mechanical system, the view of life in society as a competitive struggle for survival, and the belief in unlimited material progress to be achieved through economic and technological growth. All these ideas and values are now found to be severely limited and in need of radical revision.

I denna berömda, redan "klassiska" populärvetenskapliga bok om universums enhet påvisar fysikern Fritjof Capra viktiga paralleller mellan österländsk filosofi och religion och modern västerländsk naturvetenskap i synen på de universella gåtorna. Den nya fysikens rön ställs mot gamla urkunder från hinduism, buddhism, taoism och zen. Capra ger en levande bild av de komplexa mönster som tar form inför forskarnas ögon, mönster och paradoxer som mer och mer överensstämmer med många av de österländska uppfattningarna. Förord av Joachim Israel.