February 24, 1997

Physicist and author Fritjof Capra to speak at UCSC on "The Web of Life"

By Robert Irion

Fritjof Capra, best-selling author of The Tao of Physics, will make a public appearance at UCSC on Wednesday, March 5, to outline his "conceptual framework for the scientific understanding of life" as described in his new book, The Web of Life. Capra's talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Thimann Lecture Hall 3. Admission is free.

Capra, a physicist and systems theorist, directs the Berkeley-based Center for Ecoliteracy. His numerous books reflect his ongoing fascination with the intersection of science and spirituality. The Tao of Physics, first published in 1975, explored the parallels between Eastern mysticism and some of the mind-boggling implications of modern physics, such as the many paradoxes inherent in quantum mechanics.

Other best-sellers by Capra include The Turning Point (1985), on science, society, and the rising culture; and Uncommon Wisdom (1988), Capra's conversations with "remarkable people" in science and society. He also wrote the screenplay for the movie Mindwalk, filmed at the island of Mont St. Michel, France. The film featured lengthy discussions among a politician, a poet, and a scientist on the implications of quantum physics.

In his talk on The Web of Life, Capra will first review the intellectual tradition of systems thinking, including general systems theory, cybernetics, and the new mathematics of complexity and chaos. Then, Capra will present a synthesis of recent theories of living systems, including the theory of dissipative structures by Ilya Prigogine and the theory of autopoiesis by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela. These approaches, Capra contends, offer a unified view of mind, matter, and life.

Capra is speaking at the invitation of professor emeritus of physics Michael Nauenberg, with whom Capra worked as a postdoctoral researcher at UCSC in the late 1960s.

The Institute for Nonlinear Science at UCSC will sponsor Capra's lecture. For more information, call (408) 459-2329.

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