E-Book Overview
One of the foremost scientists and thinkers of our time, David Bohm worked alongside Oppenheimer and Einstein. In <EM>Science, Order and Creativity he and physicist F. David Peat propose a return to greater creativity and communication in the sciences. They ask for a renewed emphasis on ideas rather than formulae, on the whole rather than fragments, and on meaning rather than mere mechanics. Tracing the history of science from Aristotle to Einstein, from the Pythagorean theorem to quantum mechanics, the authors offer intriguing new insights into how scientific theories come into being, how to eliminate blocks to creativity and how science can lead to a deeper understanding of society, the human condition and the human mind itself. <EM>Science, Order and Creativity looks to the future of science with elegance, hope and enthusiasm.
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SCIENCE, ORDER, A ND
CREATmVITY DAVID BOHM F.DAWD PEAT
BANTAM BOOKS 10RONIU * KEW YORK * LONDON * SYDNEY * AUCKLAND
SCIENCE, ORDER, AND CREATIVITY
A Bantam Book I November 1987 Line art #10-15 (pages 122, 143, 152 and 153) reproduced (by permission) by Benoit Mandelbrot, from THE FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF NATURE, W. H. Freeman, N.Y., 1982. Copyright by B. Mandelbrot. New Age and the accompanying figure design as well as the statement "the searchfor meaning, growth and change" are trademarks of Bantam Books.
All rights reserved. Copyright C 1987 by David Bohm and F. David Peat. Cover art copyright 0 1987 by AndresfDudzenski. Book Design by Ann Gold. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address: Bantam Books. Ubrary of Congress Cataloging-in.Publication Data Bohm, David. Science, order, and creativity. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Science-Philosophy. 2. Creative ability in science. 3. Order (Philosophy) I. Peat, F. David, 1938II. Title. Q175.B666 1987 501 87-11448 ISBN 0-553-34449-8 (pbk.) Publishedsimultaneously in the UnitedStates and Canada Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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CONTENTS
Introduction I
Revolutions, Theories, and Creativity in Science
2 Science as Creative Perception-Communication
1 15 63
3 What Is Order?
104
4 The Generative Order and the Implicate Order
151
S Generative Order in Science, Society, and Consciousness
6 Creativity in the Whole of Life Index
192 229 272
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NITRODUalON hisbook grew out of a series of dialogues that took place between us over the last fifteen years. It therefore seems appropriate, in this Introduction, that the reader should be given some idea of the genesis of our book and of the kinds of thought and questions that stirred us into writing it. Since this naturally involves our own personal backgrounds, feelings, and attitudes, it is most easily presented in the form of a dialogue between us. Indeed, what follows could well have taken place during one of our afternoon walks together while the book was being written. DAVID BOHm: I think that it would be a good idea to begin with
the book itself. What first led you to suggest that we should write a book together? DAVID PEAT: Well, a question like that takes me right back to
my childhood. You see, as far back as I can remember, I was always interested in the un