This is the extraordinary story of the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung and the groundbreaking physicist Wolfgang Pauli's struggle to quantify the unconscious. Pauli was fascinated by the inner reaches of his psyche and not afraid to dabble in the occult, while Jung looked to science for answers to the psychological questions that tormented him. In 1932, they met. Their friendship led them, in Jung's words, into 'the no-man's land between physics and the psychology of the unconscious...the most fascinating yet the darkest hunting ground of our times.' Both were obsessed with the far-reaching significance of the number '137'. Their quest to solve its enigma led them on a lifelong journey into the secrets of alchemy, the work of Johannes Kepler and the "Chinese Book of Changes". This is the story of the remarkable and fruitful collaboration between two of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century.
137: Jung, Pauli, and the Pursuit of a Scientific Obsession
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.29
Trade in Deciphering the Cosmic Number - The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.29, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Card, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
Arthur I. Miller is a master at capturing the intersection of creativity and intelligence. He did it with Einstein and Picasso, and now he does it with Pauli and Jung. Their shared obsession with the number 137 provides a window into their genius. --Walter Isaacson
About the Author
* ARTHER I. MILLER is a professor emeritus at University College, London. He has published many critically acclaimed books, including Einstein, Picasso.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title. As a non-scientist I love books which elucidate science for the ordinary reader - the lay person - and which inspire me to see the world in a different way and this is certainly one of those. It's a fascinating read about two seminal and intriguing personalities - Wolfgang Pauli, a major figure in the development of quantum physics, and Jung, one of the founders of psychoanalysis. Pauli was a very atypical scientist. While other scientists were very competitive and obsessed with their work, he was a more rounded personality. He spent time in the bar districts of Hamburg, had relationships with cabaret singers and eventually went too far and ended up on Jung's couch. This marked the beginning of a very fruitful relationship for both Jung and Pauli. As well as science and psychoanalysis, the book ranges across alchemy, the I Ching, mandalas and other areas which were of interest to Jung and also became of interest to Pauli, who realised that science alone was not enough to give a full description of the universe. Miller tells this fascinating story lucidly and brilliantly.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title. As a non-scientist I love books which elucidate science for the ordinary reader - the lay person - and which inspire me to see the world in a different way and this is certainly one of those. It's a fascinating read about two seminal and intriguing personalities - Wolfgang Pauli, a major figure in the development of quantum physics, and Jung, one of the founders of psychoanalysis. Pauli was a very atypical scientist. While other scientists were very competitive and obsessed with their work, he was a more rounded personality. He spent time in the bar districts of Hamburg, had relationships with cabaret singers and eventually went too far and ended up on Jung's couch. This marked the beginning of a very fruitful relationship for both Jung and Pauli. As well as science and psychoanalysis, the book ranges across alchemy, the I Ching, mandalas and other areas which were of interest to Jung and also became of interest to Pauli, who realised that science alone was not enough to give a full description of the universe. Miller tells this fascinating story lucidly and brilliantly.
Format:Hardcover
The book covers the fascinating story of the unlikely friendship of Pauli and Jung. As you would expect the book covers the life history of each person, and notably so where both characters interacted with each other. In my opinion Pauli is something of an under-recognised figure in physics, he accomplished a lot through several important discoveries yet it seems that he isn't praised anywhere near as much as Einstein. This is something of a gross oversight in the physics community. Again, I'll re-iterate this is ''my opinion''. This book provides some non-mathematical details of the four major discoveries made by Pauli, as well as explaining the difficulties he had interacting with people and his recurring bouts of depression. It is on this latter point that Jung comes into the story.
The author appears to have done extensive research on both characters and made a good attempt to understand the life and work of both people. Where possible the author makes reference to letters and notes that were written by either of the key figures. There is not a lot of physics in this book but there is quite a lot written about mysticism, philosophy and the like. The mysticism line is explored through the number '137'. and hence the title of the book. This number is related to the fine structure constant of physics: it is one of the few constants of nature and is not something that can be (currently) derived. Pauli, like many other contemporary famous physicists, tried to derive this number and hence understand/discover a great truth of the universe. The dogmatic obsession with the number often lead to derivations that are closer to mysticism than physics.
The hope is, of course, that by understanding this number then a lot more of the universe can be understood.... Read more ›
The author appears to have done extensive research on both characters and made a good attempt to understand the life and work of both people. Where possible the author makes reference to letters and notes that were written by either of the key figures. There is not a lot of physics in this book but there is quite a lot written about mysticism, philosophy and the like. The mysticism line is explored through the number '137'. and hence the title of the book. This number is related to the fine structure constant of physics: it is one of the few constants of nature and is not something that can be (currently) derived. Pauli, like many other contemporary famous physicists, tried to derive this number and hence understand/discover a great truth of the universe. The dogmatic obsession with the number often lead to derivations that are closer to mysticism than physics.
The hope is, of course, that by understanding this number then a lot more of the universe can be understood.... Read more ›
0 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Mulciber
Format:Paperback
Read Paul Davies' excellent 'In Search of Schrodingers Cat' a couple of years back, and mixed with the lively description of the development of Quantum Physics was the odd entertaining biographical detail about the scientists at the centre of the discoveries.
I wanted to find out more about the remarkable individuals who contributed to Quantum Theory so I bought 137. Beware. Whereas more accoplished science writers will methodically take a reader through the complexities of a theory or discipline, Mr Miller throws glib analogies and journalistic phrases your way with no explanation. For a book about Science it is extremely unscientific. At times its downright laughable: One scientist is described as 'discovering 137' blimey how did we count to 138 before that!
This firmly knocked my confidence in Mr Miller's abilities as a biographer to boot. Fearing the worst kind of pyschobabble I bailed out before the book entered the murky world of alchemy and the I Ching.
One to avoid.
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat
I wanted to find out more about the remarkable individuals who contributed to Quantum Theory so I bought 137. Beware. Whereas more accoplished science writers will methodically take a reader through the complexities of a theory or discipline, Mr Miller throws glib analogies and journalistic phrases your way with no explanation. For a book about Science it is extremely unscientific. At times its downright laughable: One scientist is described as 'discovering 137' blimey how did we count to 138 before that!
This firmly knocked my confidence in Mr Miller's abilities as a biographer to boot. Fearing the worst kind of pyschobabble I bailed out before the book entered the murky world of alchemy and the I Ching.
One to avoid.
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 16 reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography
- Books > Biography
- Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Psychology & Psychiatry > History & Philosophy > History
- Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Psychology & Psychiatry > Schools of Thought > Jung, Carl
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Numerology
- Books > Science & Nature > Physics > Philosophy of Physics
- Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Physics
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
