Arthur Zajonc
Author of Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind
About the Author
Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., is the Andrew Mellon professor of physics and interdisciplinary studies at Amherst College, the director of the Academic Program of the Center for Contemplative Mind, and a senior program director at the Fetzer Institute
Image credit: Arthur Zajonc, Physicist
Works by Arthur Zajonc
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Zajonc, Arthur
- Legal name
- Zajonc, Arthur Guy
- Birthdate
- 1949-10-11
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Paris, France
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Boulder, Colorado, USA - Education
- University of Michigan (BS|Engineering|1971)
University of Michigan (MS|Physics|1973)
University of Michigan (PhD|Physics|1976) - Occupations
- physicist
anthroposophist
administrator
professor - Relationships
- Dalai Lama (collaborator)
- Organizations
- Fetzer Institute
Kira Institute - Awards and honors
- Fulbright lectureship
Members
Reviews
Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light… by Arthur Zajonc
Zajonc tells us that human cognition developed along with investigations into the nature of Light. The human mind began in wonder, then evolved through poetry to philosophy and science (and then ending up somewhere else...)
Like a blind man recovering his sight—confounded by peculiar new shapes and colors—we need the right mind in order to see with understanding. Catching the Light traces a line from Plato’s Timaeus through Robert Grosseteste and Nicholas of Cusa to Galileo, Descartes and Newton, as science became the domain of mathematics. Definitive knowledge proved elusive, however. Zajonc gives full play to Goethe’s rebuttal to Newtonian mechanics (with a curious detour past Rudolph Steiner) as an early step in reclaiming wonder against the encroachment of scientism and, in the last pages—with the insights of Planck and Einstein―science again finds poetic expression in quantum indeterminacy and the ineffability of light. (Einstein acknowledged the philosopher’s Forms in recognizing that 'the human mind has first to construct forms independently before we can find them in things.' Alas, poor Albert found it hard to admit that light could be both particle and wave.) A genuine pleasure to read, Catching the Light is itself an example of the wonder and poetry inherent in the scientific enterprise.… (more)
Like a blind man recovering his sight—confounded by peculiar new shapes and colors—we need the right mind in order to see with understanding. Catching the Light traces a line from Plato’s Timaeus through Robert Grosseteste and Nicholas of Cusa to Galileo, Descartes and Newton, as science became the domain of mathematics. Definitive knowledge proved elusive, however. Zajonc gives full play to Goethe’s rebuttal to Newtonian mechanics (with a curious detour past Rudolph Steiner) as an early step in reclaiming wonder against the encroachment of scientism and, in the last pages—with the insights of Planck and Einstein―science again finds poetic expression in quantum indeterminacy and the ineffability of light. (Einstein acknowledged the philosopher’s Forms in recognizing that 'the human mind has first to construct forms independently before we can find them in things.' Alas, poor Albert found it hard to admit that light could be both particle and wave.) A genuine pleasure to read, Catching the Light is itself an example of the wonder and poetry inherent in the scientific enterprise.… (more)
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 13
- Members
- 453
- Popularity
- #54,169
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 7
- ISBNs
- 28
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 1