The web of life
by Fritjof Capra, Michael Prichard · first published 1996
100% recommend
In The Web of Life Capra offers a radical synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroughs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, chaos theory and other explanations of the properties of organisms, social systems and ecosystems.
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…Dissemination [imp. "The Pharmakon"] (Jacques Derrida) The Quest for Reality (Barry Stroud) Languages of Art (Nelson Goodman) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn) Concepts (Jerry Fodor) The Web of Life (Fritjof Capra) Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco) Naming and Necessity (Saul Kripke) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig) There are others, and a lot of essays (by thinkers like…
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗…of Pauline notions of grace with charity/works. Emperor's New Mind, Penrose - probably my biggest take away from it was to consider how human perception works alongside, and co-mingles with, physics. Web of Life, Capra - considering holistic nature of life, one's connection to the World at large; emergent patterns, complex structure birthing from simplicity (goes well with what I recall of Gleick's Chaos). Zen…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗I got very excited a while a go when I found out that this book existed, and that it was Capra who wrote it (the Web of Life was great), but the top amazon reviews at the time were pretty disparaging. Looks like the top reviews have shifted since last time I was there though, I'll probably give it a try.
on “Ask HN: Anyone read Tibetan Book of Living and Dying?” ↗…Book and/or With the Grain: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Dune Some other fiction reading I'll decide on after I finish Dune Books/Authors I've read that I would recommend: Tao of Physics, Web of Life, Systems View of Life, etc. (Fritjof Capra) ^Capra's work has heavily influenced my worldview and ability to think in systems Designing Data Intensive Applications (just finishing this week)…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗I was going to note this (first learnt about it in Capra's "Web of Life", IIRC), but they did already: >Abiotic, or nonliving, chemical processes can also form structures that look surprisingly similar to life, adds Rachel Wood, a carbonate geologist at the University of…
on “890M-year-old sponge fossil may be the earliest animal yet found” ↗