Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I have read
Review: There are not too many books that can satisfy everybody. This book is for the whole family- scientists, lay-men, the religious aunt and the rebel teenager can enjoy this book equally.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissenting Opinion
Review: This book is a reminder of why non-physicists ought not to be in the business of explaining physics. It might be easier to use physics to illuminate the Tao than Taoism to find physics. In this context, modern physics is a specific description of all that is. The Tao, on the other hand, is a generality which may be affirmed or denied by the specific but which does not encompass the level of detail needed to arrive at the specific. This is why Gary Zukav so often loses his way. (Pardon the pun.) He suffers from the standard American aversion for even the simplest mathematics. As a result his description of the macro world, in which the interactions of forces and particles appear deterministic, are sometimes awkward and always inelegant. Once we enter the quantum world of Einstein's dice throwing God, Zukav loses the distinction between physics and metaphysics. The world is neither the predetermined clockwork envisioned by Descartes and his friends nor a collection of anthropomorphic particles dancing to the Wu Li Waltz. Unlike Gary Zukav and his intended readership, I am quite comfortable with a universe that cannot be explained without random variables. The Dancing Wu Li Masters might be satisfactory for those who need a spoonful of philosophy to make the physics go down were it not that the physics being swallowed is wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Could not be a better English description of Quantum Theory
Review: This book is THE book to read for those who are not familiar with complex math, but are interested in the basic principles of quantum physics. First, I must say that anyone who gives this book a bad rating has either not understood any of the material or not read the book at all. It covers all aspects of basic quantum theory from the first beginnings of it (Plank's constant, discovery of quanta through study of Black-body radiation; wave-particle duality, Heisenburg's uncertainty principle, Schrodinger's wave equation & wave functions, etc...) to relatively newer quantum theory (the Space-Time Continuum, Black Holes, Bell's theorum, quantum logic, etc...) as best as english (combined with articulate diagrams) can describe WITHOUT MATH. This book contains the best desciption and examples of Einstein's Special and General Theories of Relativity that I have ever UNDERSTOOD. Coupled with Zukav's amiable style this book is an extreme pleasure to read. One thing I found foresightful was that many parts of the book have footnotes that are written by physists who previewed the book and expounded upon the writing therein with by clarifying concepts for those who are familiar with physics and math already. 95% of this book is about understanding these new ideas (more specifically being led upon the road to experience and understanding rather than having things crammed into your brain just to be regurgitated into nothingness) and 5% (in the introduction and last chapter mostly) about how this "New Physics" coorelates to eastern religious views (NOT NEW AGE RELIGION) that have been in practice for thousands of years. The book comes complete with bibliography of all the literature Zukav has referenced in his own quest to understand quantum physics and the nature of reality and a extremely complete index that is very useful when you need it. Over all this book was relatively very easy to read (when it comes to science books) and I would recommend it to anyone who is curious about how reality is defined.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to the New Physics
Review: This is one of the most accessible and most fascinating introductions to the new physics that I have ever read. I took a class in Thermodynamics and Modern Physics last summer at a local university and I did not learn a tenth as much as I did from this book. Granted I learned more mathematical details from the class, but this book taught me why what I was learning and doing made sense, which at least for me is far more important. I feel if I went back and took that class over again it would be extremely easy now.The other wonderful aspect of this book is its constant ties to Eastern Philosophy. This is something that seems to be becoming more and more prevalent in recent years in the sciences. The whole world is becoming more and more interdisciplinary and this book is a fine example of what cross-fertilization can do to inspire new ideas and concepts. I would highly reccomend this book for any one interested in science even if they are not interested in physics per se. This book provides and excellent analysis of how scientific ideas and conceptions change and incorporate new ideas and new experience. This book is also very relevant from the aspects of philosophy, history, and sociology of science as well since it delves into all three of these aspects at times. Overall an extremely enjoyable and accessible read.
Rating:
Summary: Nah
Review: This is one of those sneakey books that tries to use the shortcomings (things humans haven't figured out) of quantum theory as a basis for religion. Don't buy this if you are actually smart.
Rating:
Summary: Another liberal arts convert
Review: Until last fall, I wasn't a science person at all. At college, I majored in English Lit, minored in Music and Philosophy and did my best to avoid anything slightly scientific.
But then one night last October when I couldn't sleep, I stayed up flipping channels and came across Brian Greene's Nova program THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE. I saw it was about Physics, and almost hit the clicker, but something about the presentation made me curious to watch a little more.
Within an hour, I was a new Physics convert. If you interested in language, art, and the disciplines of beauty, you can't help but be mesmerized by Quantum mechanics, string theory, and all of the cutting edge theories of physical world represented in Brian Greene's program.
The next time I was at a bookstore, I tried to pick up a copy of the book the NOVA show was based on, but they were sold out, so I scoured the Physics section and found a copy of Gary Zukav's THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS, instead.
Written back in the late seventies, Zukav's book is one of the first popular mainstream explications of modern theoretical physics for the lay, non-science person, like myself. I found it fascinating, and for the most part very easy to follow.
Zukav writes in a clear and compelling manner about the wonderful mysteries of the universe. He covers the history of how theoretical Physics got to where it is today (or at least was in the late seventies). He explains Einstein's major contributions to science in a few easy to follow chapters, and then goes on to skillfully explain the inexplicable conundrums of quantum theory.
As Zukav describes probability theory, he makes a convincing case that modern Physics isn't that different from Zen Buddhism. He shows how the steel-and-concrete building blocks that make up our universe are actually a lot more fluid and suggetable than common sense would dictate.
This books really helps you recover any amazement and wonder you might have lost in the everyday world around you.
Check this book out if you think you're not a science person, and if you like it, also get Brian Greene's THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE. Theoretical Physics is pretty literally the stuff dreams are made of.
Rating:
Summary: Another liberal arts convert
Review: Until last fall, I wasn't a science person at all. At college, I majored in English Lit, minored in Music and Philosophy and did my best to avoid anything slightly scientific.
But then one night last October when I couldn't sleep, I stayed up flipping channels and came across Brian Greene's Nova program THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE. I saw it was about Physics, and almost hit the clicker, but something about the presentation made me curious to watch a little more.
Within an hour, I was a new Physics convert. If you interested in language, art, and the disciplines of beauty, you can't help but be mesmerized by Quantum mechanics, string theory, and all of the cutting edge theories of physical world represented in Brian Greene's program.
The next time I was at a bookstore, I tried to pick up a copy of the book the NOVA show was based on, but they were sold out, so I scoured the Physics section and found a copy of Gary Zukav's THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS, instead.
Written back in the late seventies, Zukav's book is one of the first popular mainstream explications of modern theoretical physics for the lay, non-science person, like myself. I found it fascinating, and for the most part very easy to follow.
Zukav writes in a clear and compelling manner about the wonderful mysteries of the universe. He covers the history of how theoretical Physics got to where it is today (or at least was in the late seventies). He explains Einstein's major contributions to science in a few easy to follow chapters, and then goes on to skillfully explain the inexplicable conundrums of quantum theory.
As Zukav describes probability theory, he makes a convincing case that modern Physics isn't that different from Zen Buddhism. He shows how the steel-and-concrete building blocks that make up our universe are actually a lot more fluid and suggetable than common sense would dictate.
This books really helps you recover any amazement and wonder you might have lost in the everyday world around you.
Check this book out if you think you're not a science person, and if you like it, also get Brian Greene's THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE. Theoretical Physics is pretty literally the stuff dreams are made of.
Rating:
Summary: Second-hand gibberish
Review: When theoretical physicists try to explain their very mathematical field, without using math, they usually produce sentences that sound like gibberish. In this book the author (a proud non-physicist who is totally ignorant of math) regurgitates the gibberish he got from a theoretical physicist. So this book is second-hand gibberish. Why would one want to read it?
I will give argument for and against.
For: Zukav is a better writer than most physicists, so this book reads better than a first-hand report from the likes of Davies or Greene. For the general reader, this book makes the point that the world described by modern physics (and confirmed by experiment) is really weird.
Against: the explanations lack depth and degenerate into mysticism. I have nothing against mysticism, but the kind of mysticism the author pushes is not the only one possible. And so I get to my main objection against this book: the author has a particular religious-mystical agenda. He is not just pushing a generic mysticism, but a particular kind, one that is alien to my (western and Christian) worldview.
Rating:
Summary: I agree with oberon69
Review: Wu Li Masters is more lucid than "A Brief History of Time" and "The Elegant Universe" combined in explaining Quantum Mechanics and Relativity, both of which are great books. Don't buy this book for a Eastern Religion/Physics connection (it's not very good), and don't buy this book to learn more about actual Wu Li Masters. Buy this book if you actually want to understand 20th century physics.
|
