Quantum Questions : Mystical Writings of the World's Great Physicists

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Summary: The Genius of Ken Wilber
Review: Aside from the great collection of writings by the world's great physicists, the introduction by Ken Wilber is worth the price of this book. If the reader can understand this well written 25 pages, he or she will be able to understand the world and our place within it. Not recommended for close-minded, pseudo-scientific persons.

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Summary: Interesting
Review: I read one reviewer, an academic I suspect (perhaps in a religion/philosophy dept.), refer to Quantum Questions as

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Summary: A book uniting Science and religion
Review: If science and religion split after Pythagoras, this book proves that is really was not so. If you believe that science takes away faith, think again. Ken Wilber gives us essays from the greatest minds that shaped the 20th Century. Starting with Heisenberg and ending with Eddington, Wilbers collection of essays is a wonderful example of how it was the deepest of faiths and ideas in God and religion that drove some of the best minds. In his introduction, Wilber goes the step ahead to actually almost lay such faith and views as a precondition to stellar scientific achievement. What Wilber attempts here in his introduction is a masterly synthesis of human thought, in some bold extrapolations.

Definitely worth reading and keeeping as a precious possession.

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Summary: Avoids the hard questions
Review: The title is a bit misleading- very little of the implications of "quantum physics" is ever discussed in this book. Overall, this is a work of major political correctness-- nobody is right or wrong, it all depends on who and how you look at it. The book does a decent job of researching and commenting on the thoughts of past physicists, but the truth is they avoided telling the world their true thoughts on the matter. Research money would disappear if they did, so we will never really know. This book just helps the science-naive person realize that most physicists are not atheists, but agnostics (a word not specifically mentioned, but the only logical conclusion if you follow the text). Tough questions like analyzing today's most populous religions in terms of the scientific method are avoided. Only the more "logically" propositions of Eastern religions, like Buddhism, are talked about. The author seems to forget an important tenet of logically reason-- the reasoner should be non-biased. Four Math Phd's determining the truth of a mathematical proof is different than four Cardinals determining whether a miracle occurred. Simply because any four Math Phd's will come to the same conclusion, while four Rabis and four Cardinals will probably disagree on a lot of points. (Even though Rabis and Cardinals are both experts in matters of Religion and Soul).

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Summary: Easy reading
Review: This books simply show's that physics "the hardest and most objective of the sciences", and it's greatest thinkers, Ultimately have no way to say they are being objective. So they become somewhat mystical in there thinking...when they return to the world of chairs and tables to try and make sense of their findings. The book does not shed much light if any on the somwhat mystical nature at the very essence of our material reality as uncovered by quantum physics. It seems more to focus on what these physisists as human beings are left to deal with. The book is grounded in that manner. It doesn't run on in imagination with the wide open playing field of quantum theory. It is a book that does deal with the taboo of equating the quantum world with our macroscopic world. Many book's out there do this in very convaluted ways, this book has more of a focus to it but is a little dry and a bit too truncated with the text of these thinkers and their thoughts/conclustions.

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Summary: Written by Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Einstein, De Broglie,
Review: This is simply a fascinating collection of the words of many recognized masters of physics on the topic of the science of physics and how it relates (or doesn't) to religion and spirituality. There is a short introduction by Ken Wilber. If you value such information, here's your book.

I wrote this review because the book is worth 5 stars. The one person who criticized the book, and brought the rating down to 4 stars, seemed to be talking about some other book. The review made no sense. My take is that it was a rant against a perception rather than an experience of the book. There is nothing New Age about this book. And this is much less a book about Ken Wilber's views (which are not New Age anyway) and much more a book about the views of Eddington, Pauli, Planck, Jeans, etc. If you're curious about the spiritual views of these men, here's your opportunity. Enjoy!!!