The reader has to keep in mind that this is by no means a very up to date book and Einstein and his contemporaries star in the narrative more than CERN or Hadrons or Higgs. Also, Zukav seems to feel that repeating an idea or concept three times is the best way to convey it to the lay person.Įxcept for these peeves, it was magnificent to look at Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg etc not as scientists discussing theories and experiments but as philosophers arguing over the nature of reality and mysticism. The only complaint about the book is the fact that it goes into needless depth about the fundamentals of classical physics and then skims over the 'new physics' to an extent. It was just that we, with our obsessive propensity to classify and divide had made the artificial boundaries.

The happiest thought I take out of this book is the fact that science is no longer taking a direction opposite to that of religion, philosophy or spirituality - all the noblest endeavors of mankind were fundamentally tied together after all.

The Dancing Wu Li Masters remains an engaging, accessible way to meet the most profound and mind-altering insights of 20th-century science. Even as these theories age they haven't percolated all that far into the collective consciousness they're too far removed from mundane human experience not to need introduction. The 'new physics' of Zukav's 1979 book comprises quantum theory, particle physics, and relativity. Some physicists even believe that, but the Wu Li Masters know that they are only dancing with it. Most people believe that physicists are explaining the world. This book deals not with knowledge, which is always past tense anyway, but with imagination, which is physics come alive, which is Wu Li. The Wu Li Master always begins at the center, the heart of the matter. The Wu Li Master does not teach, but the student learns. Zukav explains the concept further: The Wu Li Master dances with his student. Like a Wu Li Master who would teach us wonder for the falling petal before speaking of gravity, Zukav writes in beautifully clear language-with no mathematical equations-opening our minds to the exciting new theories that are beginning to embrace the ultimate nature of our universe.Quantum mechanics, relativity, and beyond to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen effect and Bell's theorem.Īt an Esalen Institute meeting in 1976, tai chi master Al Huang said that the Chinese word for physics is Wu Li, 'patterns of organic energy.' Journalist Gary Zukav and the others present developed the idea of physics as the dance of the Wu Li Masters-the teachers of physical essence. Gary Zukav has written 'the Bible' for those who are curious about the mind-expanding discoveries of advanced physics, but who have no scientific background.

Dancing wuli masters