The Dancing Wu Li Masters

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The Dancing Wu Li Masters (ISBN 055326382X) by Gary Zukav (pub. 1980) is one of the most popular new age books written on quantum physics interpretations. The subject is described in non-mathematical terms to enable the widest possible readership to grasp the trends in physics research and theory current as of the mid-1970s.

The phrase Wu Li in the title refers to one possible Chinese translation of the word "physics", as translated by the Tai Chi teacher Al Huang. The chapters of the book are each titled with other alternative translations of Wu Li, such as "Nonsense" and "I Clutch My Principles".

The author participated in a physics conference of eastern and western scientists at Esalen Institute, California, in 1976 and used the occasion as material for his book. The physicist Jack Sarfatti contributed greatly to the content of the book, as well as the Tai Chi teacher and author Al Huang.

The book came out in 1980, before many of the recent developments in String Theory, so it should not be considered as up-to-date with respect to physics, although it remains interesting with respect to the philosophical commonality between western science and eastern mysticism.

See also