v. 1. Ancient and medieval.--v. 2. Modern.

This paper addresses a central question of contemporary theoretical physics: Can a unified account be provided for the known forces of nature? The issue is brought into focus by considering the recently revived Kaluza-Klein approach to unification, a program entailing dimensional transformation through cosmogony. First it is demonstrated that, in a certain sense, revitalized Kaluza-Klein theory appears to undermine the intuitive foundations of mathematical physics, but that this implicit consequence has been repressed at a substantial cost. A fundamental reformulation of (...) the Kaluza-Klein strategy is then undertaken, one that casts it within a new intuitive context. This is followed by a provisional application of the suggested approach to the specific problem of cosmic evolution. The paper concludes by exploring the far-reaching epistemological implications of the "neo-intuitive" proposal set forth. (shrink)

David Bohm was one of the foremost scientific thinkers and philosophers of our time. Although deeply influenced by Einstein, he was also, more unusually for a scientist, inspired by mysticism. Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s he made contact with both J. Krishnamurti and the Dalai Lama whose teachings helped shape his work. In both science and philosophy, Bohm's main concern was with understanding the nature of reality in general and of consciousness in particular. In this classic work he develops (...) a theory of quantum physics which treats the totality of existence as an unbroken whole. Writing clearly and without technical jargon, he makes complex ideas accessible to anyone interested in the nature of reality. (shrink)

This book confronts basic anomalies in the foundations of contemporary science and philosophy. It deals with paradoxes that call into question our conventional way of thinking about space, time, and the nature of human experience.

The violation of parity in weak interactions demonstrated in 1956 was an event that shook the foundations of physics. Since that time, the status of physical symmetry has been very much in doubt. The problem is presently addressed by first examining the essential relation between symmetry and asymmetry. Then, through the medium of qualitative mathematics, an attempt is made to show how these opposites may be fused in a topological structure expressing a new principle, that of "synsymmetry".