Fritjof Capra

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Image:Fritjof Capra.jpg Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American physicist.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Capra earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna in 1966. He has done research on particle physics and systems theory, and has written popular books on the implications of science, notably The Tao of Physics, subtitled An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. The Tao of Physics makes an assertion that physics and metaphysics are both inexorably leading to the same knowledge. His works all share a similar subtext: that "there are hidden connections between everything".

After touring Germany in the early 1980s, Capra co-wrote a book on Green Politics with ecofeminist author Charlene Spretnak called Green Politics, in 1984.

He contributed to the screenplay for the 1990 movie Mindwalk, starring Liv Ullman, which was loosely based on his book, The Turning Point. This book was also the inspiration for a broad based ad campaign called "The Turning Point Project". In the Fall of 2000, under the leadership of Jerry Mander and Andrew Kimbrell, The Turning Point Project produced full page-ads in USA Today and The New York Times promoting neo luddite ideology. The ads claimed that proponents of molecular nanotechnology have never considered how people would live without jobs, though that discussion is popular and perennial in nanotech circles.

He pushes for western society to abandon conventional linear thought and the mechanistic views of Descartes. Critiquing Descartes' reductionistic view that everything can be studied in parts to understand the whole, he allows his readers to take an objective and fresh mind, encouraging them to see the world through complexity theory.

Capra is purportedly setting the grounds for change in many new theories, one of which is the theory of living systems, a theoretical framework for ecology. This theory is only now fully emerging but it has its roots in several scientific fields that were developed during the first half of the twentieth century — organismic biology, gestalt psychology, ecology, general systems theory, and cybernetics.

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Direct Action

Fritjof Capra is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy located in Berkeley, California, which promotes ecology and systems thinking in primary and secondary education.

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