Reading on the book \”Dancing Wu Li Masters\” by
Gary Zukav
The book is written to address a non-scientific audience, to explain what all there in the field of theoretical physics to an ordinary reader. The author suggests reading the book for pleasure and not seriously studying. The book is neither about physics nor about eastern philosophy, as the reader could conclude from the title as Wu Li. But from the author\’s words, his attempt to include the similarity between eastern philosophy and physics is apparent. The book is almost about Quantum physics and Relativity. The text may seem attractive in the first look as it introduces a set of characters, including scientists and their discoveries. In the forward by David Finkelstein, we could get a rough view presented in the book. He says that physicists think differently about Quantum mechanics. One kind of people feels that it deals with \”prepositions defined by process of preparation and observation involving subject and object and obeying new logic and not only associated with objective properties of the object alone.\” And others merely believe in objective properties and counts anomalies as some random jump from the good old theories during the observations. He also presents the difference between a thing\’s mind and a people\’s mind. And the concept of complete view predicts maximal results that could be included in the class of maximal theory. But even there is a similarity in many ideas such that they are incomplete. This looks like the philosophical views of uncertainty and Elan vital.
Finkelstein also explains why quantum mechanics leads to
controversy due to the non-existing \”potentials\” in theory. It is a play of
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probability that could be considered a demerit of some people\’s ideas. Still, it could also give precise yes or no answers for individual observations. But for some solution, it needs the help of experimentation. And merely the understanding of the author that physics is not so dry but almost fruitful as philosophy.
The Big week at Big Sur: Entering into the concepts
This chapter actually gives a view of how the author could see physics as Wu Li.
The chapter itself deals with the brief history of scientific evolution all from the beginning. The changes that happened in our view of things revolutionalized the world view of physics. The journey from the Solar model of the atom to the Quantum mechanical world describes the continuity in the flow of the stream of knowledge rather than approaching it in a rough way, which is an approach that has the essence of art. Here the author is trying to us aware of our present, rather than the past, The beauty of physics, than its mathematical face. That\’s all about the real essence of the search for knowledge that a scientist must-have. He also introduces how a master would teach one in doing this. This is actually the right approach to scientific streams rather than being mechanical and inert in it. Usually, physics is considered to be a difficult subject without understanding much about its reality. Physicists are only partially responsible for this scenario. And partly it is our problem also, as we do ourself disservice. Excluding the
technicalities, the journey of physics is fascinating with its curiosity. Basically, most people have a misleading view that mixes maths with physics without understanding that it is only a tool…
Jack Sarfati, physicist director of physics/consciousness research group, invited
the author to the conference on physics the Sarfati and Murphy were arranging at the Eslen institute. Eslen is mentioned as the \”combination of power and beauty\” by the author. The facilities were located south of a Big Sur, between the highway and coastal mountain.
He explains that the dinner at Eslen was multi-dimensional. They started
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the conversation with a physicist and a T\’ai Chi master, but it soonly turned into physics. Here he explains that the term \”Wu Li\” is more poetic and a better definition of physics. This discussion leads to a decision to write a book on \”Dancing Wu Li Masters.\” But actually, it was also a way through which the thoughts that they had about physics would flow.
The translation of the Chinese language is usually difficult as it uses characters
instead of alphabets. So the term \”Wu Li\” could be translated in many ways, as \”Li\” is more poetic. \”Li\” means \”universal order,\” \”universal law,\” or \”organic pattern.\” So \”Wu Li,\” which is the Chinese term for physics, could be translated in many ways. The meaning of each word that looks similar is different, which is much different from English. Wu Li means \”patterns of organic energy,\” \”enlightenment,\” or \”non-sense.\” By the end of that week, everyone came for the conference was talking about \”Wu Li.\”
Then the thoughts of the author were turning into the concept of a \”master.\” The
the dictionary doesn\’t give a satisfactory explanation to his idea of the dancing Wu Li masters. The answer that he could get from a T\’ai Chi master was that \”A master is someone who started before you did .\” But his Western education doesn\’t provide a more remarkable ability in understanding the term entirely. From Allen Watts\’s words about Al Huang( the T\’ai Chi master), he could find that a master does not mechanically teach something, but one who could feel what he wanted to provide the student. So the learning is through perception and expansion of the level of perception. So a master will not explain anything to the student but just shows the way to go. In this way, the Wu Li master will not teach the student how to dance but will dance with them. Master will always start from the soul of a matter. The book also follows this way. The book doesn\’t deal with knowledge, which is the past in the view of the author. But it deals with imagination which makes physics live. By Einstein, physical concepts are not uniquely defined by the external world but are free creations of the human mind. We could see that there is Relativity in the image itself, and there is no point in comparison. So from this view, physics is as beautiful as it is dancing with reality.
The structure of the classes taken by the T\’ai Chi master was self-explanatory
He was considering every level as new as they are doing it for the first time, but that doesn\’t mean forgetting everything previously learned. This could be explained as another characteristic of a master as he does everything with enthusiasm. From Isidor Rabi\’s words, one has to do an experiment by their own will and because of their curiosity, but not because someone else said it to be necessary. So intellectual content, novelty, and capacity of the experiment have to be considered after that. But most of the scientists are not like what said by Rabi, that lead to a misunderstanding between scientists and a technician. So scientists are those people who could create knowledge. In that sense, similar to artists. So those people who are gifted are called a genius.
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The author points out that most scientists are technicians due to the loss of
interest in finding something new. They only apply the knowledge that they already know. This is what made the difference when a technician and a scientist could see the Hydrogen spectrum.
From the past, we could see that the Rutherford model of the atom, which compare it with the solar system was inconsistent in explaining the line spectrum of hydrogen atoms. This lead to the Bohr model and concept of shells. But Bohr\’s calculations were based on the hydrogen atom, which is the simplest and only has a single electron in the first shell. The explanation was that electrons could make multiple jumps from an outer orbit to the inner orbit making a whole set of combinations and emissions. And each leap from an inner orbit to an external could make absorption of a specific wavelength. Bohr\’s theory allowed the scientists to calculate wavelengths of emission, which agrees with the observations, and many scientists had done a lot of experimentation on it. But all these arguments don\’t imply that technicians aren\’t necessary. The
scientists are building their theory on the data provided by them mostly. But the
book is about Wu Li masters and not about technicians, and physicist only means
scientists.
For writing the book, the author had difficulties. One is that for every book on
Physics is challenging to cover in the growing world of physics, and it is also difficult for a physicist to be updated. And secondly, the complete appreciation of physics without maths is too tricky. But maths is just a structured way of thinking. We could either interpret that the physicists impose those structures to the observations or nature itself is exhibited along with these structures. Here maths is just a language like English. It could describe an experience which itself is not the language. But in a book, the only thing I could do is these explanations. The expertise has to come from the reader.
Actually, Quantum mechanics tells us that we aren\’t separated from the rest of the world. Particle physics tells us that the external world is a sparking realm of continual creation, transformation, and annihilation. The insight of the new physics could produce much of these experiences. The relativity theories give us the experience to see that space and time are mental constraints. Each of these irreversibly changes the world. But physics is no single experience. The author says that the entire field of physics is quivering with anticipation, and it is with curiosity. So revolutionary changes are expected in this field shortly. This is what we get by understanding that the process of dancing and the dancer is a single event.
Feel Of the Reading:
The first chapter clearly projects the author\’s view about the subject he is going to present and the way he is going to do that further. The book\’s approach is more philosophical than with maths\’ language, as we would expect from a regular book on physics. It clearly presents how \”Wu Li\” becomes essential in this context. The theme is merely for a curious mind that could clearly see physics\’ beauty rather than its technicality. A scientist has to be creative and not only following technical ways without going so deep into the topic. For them, they are merely spending their life doing something said to be important by others, without understanding any beauty of physics. This points out the changes we\’ve to make in the way of studying. Science is similar to art.
The concept of a master is also essential. So the master does not teach, but one who could provide the feel of the subject and know its heart. With a master\’s, the process of studying is much like an art. He doesn\’t give any knowledge directly but enables the student to grasp those by themself. In that sense, a master could actually build the world.
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The first chapter is a beautiful experience for a student. It helps to come out from the typical view about studies which is more or less concerned with academic progress. But it doesn\’t make sure that it is a knowledge enrichment process most of the time, and it makes student life dry and stressful. So the point is clear from here itself that we have to make a significant change in our views to make a better future. We have to be more creative, touching deep to the physical phenomenons, as fruitful as artists. That we\’ve to be \”scientists\” for enjoying the physics better.
abstract thoughts 