Rating: 
Summary: Universal networks underlying existence
Review: Capra attempts to provide a conceptual framework that integrates the physical, cognitive and social dimensions in order to present a unified view of consciousness, society and life and also to develop a coherent and systemic approach to addressing the world's most pressing problems.In the first part he constructs a new theoretical framework by looking at the nature of life, the nature of consciousness and the nature of social reality. He deals extensively with networking that has become an important social phenomenon and a critical source of power in the world. The second part explores the management of human organisations, i.e. why and how these are living systems; economic globalisation; a systemic analysis of the ethical and scientific problems of biotechnology, with reference to the human genome project, and; the major problems facing the world today. The author does a good job of pointing out the unified systems that integrate the biological, cognitive and social aspects of life and of explaining how a new vision of reality is unfolding, together with the social implications of this transformation. Hidden Connections is a great read. The book contains explanatory notes, a bibliography and an index. Other interesting books dealing with this subject include Small World by Mark Buchanan and Beyond Chaos by Mark Ward.
Rating: 
Summary: The New Age Philosophy of Life and Behavior Falls Short
Review: Capra is a physicist but his writing is geared towards instructing non-science types in the implications of science for the meaning of our lives. This is a very admirable goal, and more physicists should become engaged in this critically important task. The problem is that Capra's analysis and interpretations make very little contact with the physical reality he is trying to describe. Rather, he couches pedestrian descriptions of the natural world in complex new age terminology that might lull the unknowledgeable reader that something is being said, when in fact, nothing is being said. For instance, we are informed that life is characterized by cellular constitution, and cells are autopoietic, dissipative structures. When you find out what these arcane terms mean, you are no closer to understanding life, or even cells. Capra doesn't bother talking about what cella are really like, or why life consists of cells. He simply describes them in complicated terms, drawing on the philosophers Maturana and Varela, who impress non-scientists with their verbal facility, but cut no ice with those who really study life. He flirts with Prigogine's quirky (and completely unuseful for practicing scientists) interpretation of thermodynamics, and since Prigogine is a Nobelist, we are supposed to be duly impressed. I am not. Prigogine did excellent work in the early 1950's, but then seemed to don some sort of intellectual toga and gave up interacting with the real world. I am not prone to an excess of emotion in evaluating scientific projects, which probably saves Capra from a good deal of invective in this review. But, I purchased the book, and I am allowed my say. This book is a hoax, as are all new age interpretations of physical and biology that I have come across. The only readers who will be impressed are the scientifically naive and the scientifically informed who have dropped into the sixth dimension to do a little soul-repairing.
Rating:
Summary: The Hidden Connections/Life and Leadership in Organizations
Review: Chapter Four of this book offers everyone, but particularly leaders, change advocates and consultants a rich opportunity to learn about systemic change in organizations. Capra articulates an accessible, fundamental conceptual theory of human organizations that has immediate relevance at all organizational levels. Application of these ideas and insights will build capacity for large scale, sustainable change which, at least in my own field of education reform, has been far too rare. I like the idea of a "community of practice" as being one definition of an organization. He uses Meg Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers' treatment of human organizations particularly well. (I hope they agree!) If the essential question is, "How do we create sustainable change in human organizations?" some the answers are in Chapter Four of The Hidden Connections and its supporting bibliography. The rest of the book is an exciting excursion through living systems small and large that reflects Capra's quest to understand how everything that matters works.
Rating:
Summary: The Hidden Connections/Life and Leadership in Organizations
Review: Chapter Four of this book offers everyone, but particularly leaders, change advocates and consultants a rich opportunity to learn about systemic change in organizations. Capra articulates an accessible, fundamental conceptual theory of human organizations that has immediate relevance at all organizational levels. Application of these ideas and insights will build capacity for large scale, sustainable change which, at least in my own field of education reform, has been far too rare. I like the idea of a "community of practice" as being one definition of an organization. He uses Meg Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers' treatment of human organizations particularly well. (I hope they agree!) If the essential question is, "How do we create sustainable change in human organizations?" some the answers are in Chapter Four of The Hidden Connections and its supporting bibliography. The rest of the book is an exciting excursion through living systems small and large that reflects Capra's quest to understand how everything that matters works.
Rating:
Summary: Ecoliteracy Can Save the Planet
Review: If you are looking to save the world via fiction, see Daniel Quinn. If you are looking to save the world via non-fiction, look no further than Hidden Connections. This book will provide you with everything you need (including a new mind and new conception of self) to get right with the ecosphere and the damage we have all helped inflict upon her. (Don't think the world is in trouble, see Lester Brown's ECO-ECONOMY). Not a science buff, chapter one didn't blow my doors, although I was interested by what Capra had to say and (luckily) was able to wrap my head around all the concepts. In this chapter, he traces the evolution of life on the planet, and therewith provides a novel definition of life. A good place to start any book, I suppose, but certainly one about the future prospects of life on this planet. Chapter two deals with mind and consciousness. In this chapter, Capra bridges the ancient Cartesian chasm between mind and body, defines cognition and consciousness, and explains the meaning of language. He even throws out some theories about the origin and evolution of all the above. Chapter three breaks from the previous two chapters, as Capra delves into social reality. In this chapter he gives meaning to the world "meaning," explains social theory from Max Weber to Habermas, discusses human freedom, explains the three forms of power (coercive, compensatory, and conditioned power, or education), and talks about technology and culture. For me, the book really picks up with chapter four, "Life and Leadership in Organizations." This chapter, Capra discusses what the definition of life means when applied to the corporate business world. Issues such as managment, labor rights, and the role of creativity are sure to please. It is this chapter that gets the ball rolling, which doesn't stop until the very last page. Chapter seven almost left me breathless. Here Capra provides a thoroughgoing critique of the globalization. Books like THE CASE AGAINST THE GLOBAL ECONOMY are much longer and more detailed, but that is exactly what gives Capra's presentation unique: As with every subject, he synthesizes his argument into concise, lazer-like prose, drawing upon the work of hundreds of scholars, all well-documented in an A++ index. Chapter eight deals with biotechnology, perhaps the defining charadcteristic of 21st century. This chapter covers a lot of ground: He explains genes, advances the freewill-determinism argument (freewill wins), gives a concise history of the Green Revolution, genetically modified organisms, the silent organic revolution, biopiracy, ecodesign, and biomimicry. As with the chapter on the global economy, this chapter is written in stunning prose that will not disappoint. The last chapter is called "Changing the Game". In this chapter, Capra outlines the ecocide we are inflicting on the planet (again, a subject discussed singularly and to great satisfaction in ECO-ECONOMY), and what we can do to fix it. In this chapter, he gives a coherent definition of sustainability, outlines ecolitery, explains solar power, hypercars, converstion to a zero-waste hydrogen economy, and green tax shift that supports employment and taxes non-sustainable practices. The way in which Capra weaves the concept of the network throughout the whole of this book is facinating, a subject which harkens back to his last book, THE WEB OF LIFE. Throughout HIDDEN CONNECTIONS, you will be exposed to many of networks with subtle power that is revolutionizing human culture and the fate of the planet as a whole: including academic networks, social protest networks and political networks. You will not finish this volume without feeling completely changed - and informed. No doubt, ecoliteracy can save the planet. I highly recommend this book. A quote to wet your whistle: "Whereas the extraction of resources and the accumlation of waste are bound to reach their ecological limits, the evolution of life has demonstrated for more than three billion years that in a sustainable Earth houshold, there are no limits to development, diversification, innovation, and creativity."
Rating: 
Summary: Glorious edifice on a shaky foundation
Review: Networks rule! Capra traces the growth of networks ranging from the minute life functions established in the earliest cells through to today's global economic organizations. Asserting that life's origins began with fat globs providing a base, cells could then develop compound structures by absorption of chemicals or other, smaller, organisms. Biological patterns were expanded, not changed, as evolution progressed through time. Complexity increased opportunity for life to inhabit new niches and adapt more readily to change. Capra embraces the "Santiago Theory of Cognition" which expresses evolution as a recursive process. "Thinking" about adaptation to changing environments leads to new lifeforms. With the process established across all life, he's able to toy with Lovelock's Gaia thesis, adding fresh ornamentation to the idea of the biosphere as a single organism. Capra weaves a picture of humanity as tightly threaded with the rest of nature's tapestry. Our composition, our habits, our creations are entwined with all other living things. He insists we must recognize our integration with the rest of the biosphere. He offers a novel mechanism to achieve that awareness. Past science has focussed too narrowly - a habit he decries as "reductionist." He urges the creation of a "new type of science dealing with qualities rather than quantities" a proposal emitting the aroma of some of the recent "post-modernist" philosophers. In the second part of the book he addresses some of the human-designed mechanisms. Human structures are complex, even paradoxical, he argues. Our organizations carry a "dual nature" - the mechanistic drive for profit running in parallel with the community of humans who have personal needs to fulfill. These elements are essentially conflicting and many compromises must be made to achieve both ends. The effort also results in "two kinds of leadership," those with the drive to create and those protecting human values. The extension of the "creators" has given us "globalisation" while the "protectors" are struggling for recognition and acceptance. Today's striving for a global economy is the final extension of the biological networking process - only its aims differ. Almost as a sidelight, Capra sees globalisation as having created a new, almost parallel economy in the formation of a world embracing "crime economy." This bizarre force operates in parallel with "legitimate" business ends, although using similar mechanisms. In order to cope with all these forces, Capra wishes us to foster his "new type of science" to gain further acceptance. Unfortunately, the first step is the major weakness of the book. Having already given us a biology resting on shaky assertions, he goes on to create a structure of straw. A whole section of the book rails against the sin of "genetic determinism." This is an outmoded and false concept, except to those who wish to attack science. Capra uses the term as a bludgeon to attack the failures of the "green revolution" and the promises of biotechnology. These are valid targets, but the weapon is flimsy. It's almost a non-sequitor when set against his view of corporate operations. Capra's reliance on weak weapons is furthered by the limitations of his sources. His reading list is sparse, to say the least. He's chosen a few like-minded philosophers, but there is little in the way of serious scientific input. Given the scope of this book, that's regrettable. The edifice he's built is timely. We need to know more about nature, not just as "environment" but in the details that might provide more insight. Unfortunately, the many loose bricks in his structure tend to shake his credibility. If his work was more informative and less polemical, especially when he attacks targets he doesn't identify, there might be more reason to admire the grandeur of his construction. Instead, we must turn elsewhere for better material. Since the "quality" he seeks remains elusive, we must make new bricks of real data. His architecture is admirable, but the construction must be of firmer components. E.O. Wilson provides a more stable foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Glorious edifice on a shaky foundation
Review: Networks rule! Capra traces the growth of networks ranging from the minute life functions established in the earliest cells through to today's global economic organizations. Asserting that life's origins began with fat globs providing a base, cells could then develop compound structures by absorption of chemicals or other, smaller, organisms. Biological patterns were expanded, not changed, as evolution progressed through time. Complexity increased opportunity for life to inhabit new niches and adapt more readily to change. Capra embraces the "Santiago Theory of Cognition" which expresses evolution as a recursive process. "Thinking" about adaptation to changing environments leads to new lifeforms. With the process established across all life, he's able to toy with Lovelock's Gaia thesis, adding fresh ornamentation to the idea of the biosphere as a single organism. Capra weaves a picture of humanity as tightly threaded with the rest of nature's tapestry. Our composition, our habits, our creations are entwined with all other living things. He insists we must recognize our integration with the rest of the biosphere. He offers a novel mechanism to achieve that awareness. Past science has focussed too narrowly - a habit he decries as "reductionist." He urges the creation of a "new type of science dealing with qualities rather than quantities" a proposal emitting the aroma of some of the recent "post-modernist" philosophers. In the second part of the book he addresses some of the human-designed mechanisms. Human structures are complex, even paradoxical, he argues. Our organizations carry a "dual nature" - the mechanistic drive for profit running in parallel with the community of humans who have personal needs to fulfill. These elements are essentially conflicting and many compromises must be made to achieve both ends. The effort also results in "two kinds of leadership," those with the drive to create and those protecting human values. The extension of the "creators" has given us "globalisation" while the "protectors" are struggling for recognition and acceptance. Today's striving for a global economy is the final extension of the biological networking process - only its aims differ. Almost as a sidelight, Capra sees globalisation as having created a new, almost parallel economy in the formation of a world embracing "crime economy." This bizarre force operates in parallel with "legitimate" business ends, although using similar mechanisms. In order to cope with all these forces, Capra wishes us to foster his "new type of science" to gain further acceptance. Unfortunately, the first step is the major weakness of the book. Having already given us a biology resting on shaky assertions, he goes on to create a structure of straw. A whole section of the book rails against the sin of "genetic determinism." This is an outmoded and false concept, except to those who wish to attack science. Capra uses the term as a bludgeon to attack the failures of the "green revolution" and the promises of biotechnology. These are valid targets, but the weapon is flimsy. It's almost a non-sequitor when set against his view of corporate operations. Capra's reliance on weak weapons is furthered by the limitations of his sources. His reading list is sparse, to say the least. He's chosen a few like-minded philosophers, but there is little in the way of serious scientific input. Given the scope of this book, that's regrettable. The edifice he's built is timely. We need to know more about nature, not just as "environment" but in the details that might provide more insight. Unfortunately, the many loose bricks in his structure tend to shake his credibility. If his work was more informative and less polemical, especially when he attacks targets he doesn't identify, there might be more reason to admire the grandeur of his construction. Instead, we must turn elsewhere for better material. Since the "quality" he seeks remains elusive, we must make new bricks of real data. His architecture is admirable, but the construction must be of firmer components. E.O. Wilson provides a more stable foundation.
Rating:
Summary: The interconnectedness of all things.
Review: Physicist Fritjof Capra is perhaps best known for his 1975 book, THE TAO OF PHYSICS, which is now in its fourth printing. In THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS, he covers a lot of ground in just 288 pages--3.8 billion years, to be exact--to reveal the remarkable interconnectedness of all things, from cells to language to the internet to spirituality to the global economy, that make up the ever-evolving web of life in which we live. However, as fascinating as this journey might be, in the end this is a book with a convincing message about sustainability, which Capra offers without ever sounding preachy. This thought-provoking book will appeal to anyone who enjoyed THE TAO OF PHYSICS or THE WEB OF LIFE, or to anyone who finds Thomas Berry's DREAM OF THE EARTH and THE GREAT WORK meaningful. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: The interconnectedness of all things.
Review: Physicist Fritjof Capra is perhaps best known for his 1975 book, THE TAO OF PHYSICS, which is now in its fourth printing. In THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS, he covers a lot of ground in just 288 pages--3.8 billion years, to be exact--to reveal the remarkable interconnectedness of all things, from cells to language to the internet to spirituality to the global economy, that make up the ever-evolving web of life in which we live. However, as fascinating as this journey might be, in the end this is a book with a convincing message about sustainability, which Capra offers without ever sounding preachy. This thought-provoking book will appeal to anyone who enjoyed THE TAO OF PHYSICS or THE WEB OF LIFE, or to anyone who finds Thomas Berry's DREAM OF THE EARTH and THE GREAT WORK meaningful. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: Something for Everyone
Review: This book has something for almost everyone. It extends complexity theory into social networks, bringing in discussion of communication and the making of meaning. It addresses cognition and consciousness, even touching on spirituality, in Chapter 2. It moves into organizational practice beginning in Chapter 4 that includes a vision of leadership, then moves to the larger world stage, addressing global capitalism, biotechnology, the new civil society, and eco-sustainability. He even suggests a new tax structure! There is a lot in this book, and Capra models the web of interconnectedness throughout. Because there is so much, sometimes I would like to see more depth in areas that interest me particularly, but he gives hints of where to look for deeper information for those interested. This book clearly builds on his previous work "The Web of Life" and while still theoretical, brings in a great deal more practical application. I highly recommend the book.
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