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The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture By Fritjof Capra ( Bantam )
Release Date: 1984-08-01
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 The Turning Point
Very difficult to read, you need to be keen on the subject matter to keep the interest up to plough through this one.
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The Optimistic Jew
The back page of Capra's book contains the following: "We have reached a time of dramatic and potentially dangerous change, a turning point for the planet as a whole. We need a new vision of reality, one that allows the forces transforming our world to flow together as a positive movement for social change." The book was written before the fall of the Soviet Union and European Communism, before the advent of the Internet Revolution, and before the rise of international stateless terror. Much of what seemed exotic at the time - alternative wellness treatment, alternative energy, and environmental concern - have since become mainstream. Other problems he presents as potentially catastrophic have become obsolete because of the productivity potential of the Internet and the knowledge economy.
Yet the above quote is still relevant as an apt description of our present world and the book can still be read with benefit by the inquisitive and concerned world citizen. The title served as a useful metaphor for me when writing "The Optimistic Jew" -- it seems to me that Jewish civilization itself is at a "turning point" within the general "Turning Point".
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 Great find ( billjamison )
Found this today at the annual library sale for $2 and this was right after showing my class the movie "Mind Walk" which is based on the book. Talk about coincidence! I have "The Web of Life".
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 Excellent questioning of commonplace ideas! ( eugenio_b )
The text contains criticism on several commonly accepted concepts, from drugs advertising to public health to physics (almost a summary of The Tao of Physics) to agriculture to nuclear power, all extremely relevant topics to anyone.
As I graduated in Business Administration, one of chapters I liked most is about Economics - exposing the lack of proper concepts to start with, then the common weak and biased conclusions reached based on those weak and biased concepts. Ecology discussions are also great, though alarming - but I think few people can stay calm reading about that in any media today.
The title refers to a bigger idea, that of an overall crisis and upcoming transformation of our society. The "jump" from criticism of specific issues (above) to this conclusion is highly subjective, and so many will disagree to it. Even if you do disagree, read the specifics anyway; they are still interesting.
It's also wonderfully written; in almost every paragraph you can take out one or two thoughts. I ended up underlining most of the book.
I highly recommend it. The exercise of questioning our concepts helps understanding. Even if you reach other conclusions yourself, it's still worthy to question!
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Important messages
I think Fritjof Capra is making some very important observations in this book. Through his observations, the author states that Western Civilization is gradually approaching the climax of a major turning point in its evolution. He suggests that the cause of this is in our consciousness, a certain way we are seeing and understanding our experiences. This is leading to many of our present day environmental, social, political, and financial crises. We are all sitting on a treebranch that is gradually getting too heavy. Many modern theorists try to explain this phenomena but Capra articulates this in a way that many people can understand. This book as well as "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato do a very fine job in trying to open the public eye to these issues. Both of these books are highly recommended for people who want to understand things from a wider, larger, and deeper perspective.
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Addiction
