The SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE: How Quantum Physics Proves the Existence of the Soul - Hardcover

Wolf, Fred Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684812002 ISBN 13: 9780684812007

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1996

Synopsis

Exploring the definitions of soul provided by Plato, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Buddhism, an award-winning author relates them to quantum physics where the soul must be understood as a process rather than an entity contrasted to matter. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

An attempt to prove by scientific methods that the soul exists, by a physicist who has explored this terrain before, in The Eagle's Quest (1991) and The Dreaming Universe (1994). Wolf certainly succeeds in pointing up the limitations of the old Newtonian science. Logical, objective, materialist science gave us industrialization, and one of industrialization's undeniable results is a polluted world in which the majority of inhabitants live in poverty. Thus science in its objectivity, the author asserts, fails to provide any usable moral compass. But Wolf indicts science for an even more profound and damaging failing: its contribution to our sense of ``spiritual isolation, to a feeling of depression,'' and to the conviction that life is pointless. He wants somehow to quantify those manifestations that are universally felt but cannot be seen: the diminishment one feels after the death of a loved one; sudden insights that lead to greater knowledge; dreams that transform consciousness as surely as cold logic. Such conditions are real and have real effects, he argues, even if they are subjective. The old science describes static conditions and cannot deal with the fluid nature of reality except to deny its existence. Quantum physics, however, allows us to begin to grapple with fluid reality, because it recognizes that the observed object changes even as it is observed. Does such a recognition suggest the realm of the soul, ebbing in some unmeasurable, timeless constant? The argument is essentially this: We cannot see the soul, but we can fleetingly observe its effects on consciousness. Therefore, it's real. Wolf's language is, thankfully, quite clear, his presentation of ideas deft, including an entertaining tour of theories of the soul from Plato to Einstein. In the end, however, he sounds less like a scientist than a Buddhist--or, to be precise, he tries to use Buddhism to explain what science has been unable to describe. Trendy, but earnest and appealing as well. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

Wolf (Quantum Leap, LJ 11/15/81; Parallel Universes, S. & S., 1990) provides an interesting investigation of the soul?what it is, how it differs from the self, and what role it plays in good and evil. Wolf provides further insights into the "both/and" world of quantum physics as well as the spiritual and scientific basis for the soul. The 14 chapters engage the reader in soul physics, magnetic, emotional, feminine, and world soul and in soul searching (how does the soul remember?; is there an ancient basis for a modern soul?; and the heartfelt relationship of one soul to another). Public libraries would do well to add this to their collections since the discussion invites scientists, believers, and skeptics to a captivating exploration. Both the mainstream religious believer and the New Age participant will find something here to challenge them. The numerous notes and six-page bibliography make this a comprehensive examination inviting further probing.?Leroy Hommerding, Citrus Cty. Lib. System, Beverly Hills, Fla.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0684812002
• ISBN 13: 9780684812007
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368