The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics (2 Cassettes)

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At 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. Zukav explains the concept further:

The Wu Li Master dances with his student. The Wu Li Master does not teach, but the student learns. The Wu Li Master always begins at the center, the heart of the matter.... This book deals not with knowledge, which is always past tense anyway, but with imagination, which is physics come alive, which is Wu Li.... Most people believe that physicists are explaining the world. Some physicists even believe that, but the Wu Li Masters know that they are only dancing with it.

The "new physics" of Zukav's 1979 book comprises quantum theory, particle physics, and relativity. 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 Dancing Wu Li Masters remains an engaging, accessible way to meet the most profound and mind-altering insights of 20th-century science. --Mary Ellen Curtin


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Particle physics is a science that few of us really understand. Indeed, it can be an intimidating, confusing study. Or it can be, as it is in The Dancing Wu Li Masters, a comprehensible, awe-inspiring world of absolute wonder and enchantment. In beautifully clear, often poetic language, with no mathematical equations, Gary Zukav presents this carefully abridged edition of his bestseller to open our minds to ideas that embrace the nature of the universe, and to help us gain intellectual and spiritual access to this often-baffling world.

With the skill of a Zen master -- who, rather than tell us about a subject leads us to understand the experience of it -- Mr. Zukav discusses the essence of physics with the sense of fascination and inspiration we all feel when we look at the vastness of our universe. He probes its simplicity and its magic -- the universal dance of everything from stars and immense galaxies to invisible, sub-atomic particles -- and leads us to see and appreciate all of it with new eyes.


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