The Dancing Wu Li Masters

An Overview of the New Physics

Gary Zukav

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780060959685
• eBook ISBN: 9780061926389
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Applied Mathematics

"The most exciting intellectual adventure I've been on since reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

Gary Zukav's timeless, humorous, New York Times bestselling masterpiece, a touchstone for readers of science and spirituality, The Dancing Wu Li Masters, is arguably the most widely acclaimed introduction to quantum physics ever written. Scientific American raves: "Zukav is such a skilled expositor, with such an amiable style, that it is hard to imagine a layman who would not find his book enjoyable and informative." Accessible, edifying, and endlessly entertaining, The Dancing Wu Li Masters is back in a beautiful new edition—and the doors to the fascinating, dazzling, remarkable world of quantum mechanics and relativity are opened to all once again, no previous mathematical or technical expertise required.

Zukav's celebrated guide makes the wonders of the new physics accessible to all, exploring mind-bending concepts like:

• The New Physics: Understand why the classical physics of Isaac Newton gave way to a strange, wonderful, and far more accurate new view of our universe.
• Einstein's Theories Demystified: Grasp the profound implications of Relativity without a single equation, from time dilation to the nature of space-time.
• The Wave-Particle Duality: Delve into one of quantum theory's central mysteries—how subatomic "particles" can be in two places at once and behave as both objects and waves.
• The Role of the Observer: Explore the startling idea that by the very act of observing reality, we play a role in creating it.

Searchable Terms

Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.

Absolute motion, 142, 183

Absolute non-motion, 141–47, 151–53, 184, 209

Absolute time, 166

Absolute truth, 41–42

Acceleration, 178

gravity and, 186

negative, 186–87

positive, 186–87

Accelerators

electron, 226

feeder, 226

particle, 215, 217–18, 219, 226

Admissions, 303

Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist (ed. Schilpp), 262n

Allowed transitions, 302

Amplitude, 61

Analytic geometry, 337

Anderson, Carl, 235

Angular momentum, 231–34

Antimuon, 330

Anti-particles, 235, 239–40, 242, 243, 275, 276

Anti-protons, 263, 264

Aristotelianism, 72

Aristotle, 23, 287

Aspect, Alain, xxi, 327–28

Astronauts, 23

Astronomy, 53, 201–204

Ptolemaic, 217n

Atomic bombs, 175

Atomic level, 34

Atomic oscillators, 53–54, 55

Atomic phenomena, 21

Atomic reactors, 175

Atoms, 53–54, 114

Bohr’s theory on, 14–16, 114, 119

construction of, 12–13

ground state of, 14–15

the new physics and, 119–20

“Auguries of Innocence” (Blake), 167

Authentic power, xxix–xxx

Avatamsaka Sutra, 266n

Awareness movement, 173

Baryon number, 234n

Baryons, 228, 234, 235, 270–71, 273

Be Here Now (Dass), 173

Being, Non-being and, 341

Bell, J. S., xxi, 75, 313

Bell Telephone Laboratories, 107

Bell’s theorem, 252n, 285, 313–14, 322–26, 329–33, 339

quantum theory and, 322–23, 325–26, 329, 331, 334–35

“Beneath Time” (Finkelstein), 311

Bently, Richard, 25

Bible, 97, 173–74

Big Bang theory, 329n

Binary star system, 207

Birkbeck College, 221, 339

Birkhoff, Garrett, 292–93, 302, 310, 311

Black-body radiation, 54–55, 106, 233, 344

Black hole singularity, 206–207

Black hole theory, 205–209

Blake, William, 167

Blofeld, John, 266n

Bohm, David, xxi, 221, 316, 327, 329–30, 339–43

Bohr, Niels, xix, xx, xxv, 14–16, 28, 38, 40n, 41n, 57, 72, 109, 118, 125, 224

complementarity and, 41n, 103, 106, 223–24n, 338, 347

Einstein and, 290

Planck’s constant and, 233

planetary model of the atom, 110, 114–15, 117, 119–20, 223

on quantum mechanics, 28, 125–26,...

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Synoptic Table of Contents
• Cast of Characters
• Foreword by David Finkelstein
• Introduction to the Perennial Classics Edition
• Introduction
• Wu Li?
• Patterns of Organic Energy
• My Way
• Nonsense
• I Clutch My Ideas
• Enlightenment
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Searchable Terms
• Stable Particle Table
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Praise
• Copyright
• About the Publisher