Announcing new book 27/01/16

Meaning of Life & the Universe

By Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, World Scientific, ISBN 978-981-3108-85-1

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This collection of essays is selected from about a thousand works written over a period of 46 years. They elaborate on what it means to live in a quantum universe as opposed to a mechanistic universe. With quantum physics and chemistry as the pervading theme and reference point, the essays range over philosophy, anthropology, psychology, evolution, genetics and epigenetics, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, consciousness, neuroscience, art and the humanities, quantum electrodynamics of water, fractal mathematics and cosmology. In the process, practically every subject is rewritten in a new synthesis that redefines and transforms life itself. It is indeed my personal quest for the meaning of life and the universe.

I was fortunate to have encountered many teachers and mentors in my quest, most of them are mentioned in the essays. In particular, I am indebted to Fritz Albert Popp, who taught me almost everything I know about quantum theory. Another towering figure was Kenneth Denbigh, who gave me a thorough lesson in thermodynamics, a subject I singularly failed to learn as an undergraduate, and also most generously encouraged and helped me to extend his own theory of the steady state to the far-from-equilibrium regime, which eventually became the circular thermodynamics of organisms and sustainable systems. James Clegg’s work initiated me to the special state of water in organisms, leading to our discovery that it is liquid crystalline. Emilio del Giudice, honoured with a special essay in this collection, taught me quantum electrodynamics and the crucial importance of light-matter interactions.  Last, though by no means the least, Mohamed El Naschie introduced me to the fascinating world of discontinuous and non-differentiable mathematics, which may well describe the fabric of the quantum universe.

I also have numerous collaborators who are listed as co-authors of papers cited in the references. Among them are those with whom I have shared key discoveries, dreams, and adventures, and many exhilarating hours in and out of the laboratory. Franco Musumeci, a great friend, teacher, and fellow dreamer, generously invited me to work in his Catania laboratory for many years with Agata Scordino and Antonio Triglia on biophotons (pioneered by Fritz Albert Popp), which has not been supported by any funding agency to this day. Michael Lawrence made it possible for us to discover the liquid crystalline Rainbow Worm. Julian Haffegee and Zhou Yu Ming were my graduate students whose ingenuity and enthusiasm carried us through good times and bad. Stephen Ross volunteered in our laboratory for some years and produced the first quantitative analytical imaging software for collagenous and other liquid crystalline tissues.

Outside of scientific circles, I was most fortunate to have met pioneering ecologist Edward Goldsmith, who introduced me to indigenous knowledge, anthropology, and more; and Martin Khor, Vandana Shiva, and Chee Yokeling, who turned me into a science activist, and led me to the view that science is reliable knowledge of nature that enables us to live sustainably with her. They were instrumental in helping to set up the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) to reclaim science for the public good in all respects. We have been successful, thanks to Julian Haffegee, one of our founding members, who has remained with us ever since, and especially to fellow scientist Joe Cummins, already a champion of the environment, who joined us within the first years, and wrote numerous submissions to the US Environment Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration on our behalf. He is no doubt responsible for any good these agencies have ever done. Joe was among the first to warn of genetically modified organisms, the threat of neonicotinoid pesticides to bees and many other things that escape the mainstream media. Sadly, Joe died 8 January 2016 as this volume is going to press. He was a great friend, a kind, gentle and generous soul, and a pillar of strength when it comes to defending the environment and the public good.

Finally, without the love and support of Peter Saunders, my husband, collaborator, and co-conspirator, none of the essays would have been written, nor the scientific research carried out, nor the inspiration that gave birth to them.

With the exception of the poem “Why say consciousness?” published here for the first time, all other essays are based on previously published works. They have all been edited for style and to minimize repetition, updated, and annotated. Some essays are combinations of several articles. For these reasons, they depart from the published works to varying extent, while remaining faithful to the original themes.

Contents

Preface

Sources

Anthropology, Philosophy & Psychology

1. Natural Being & Coherent Society
2. Towards an Indigenous Western Science
3. Organism & Psyche in a Participatory Universe

Evolution, Genetics and Epigenetics

4. Epigenetic & Developmental Dynamics,
5. How Development Directs Evolution  
6. Nurturing Nature
7. No Genes for Intelligence in the Fluid Genome
8. Natural versus Artificial Genetic Modification & Perils of GMOs
9. Non-Random Directed Mutations & Quantum Electrodynamics

Consciousness & neuroscience

9. The Biology of Free Will   
10. Quantum Coherence & Conscious Experience
11. Why Say Consciousness?                                                               

Art & Science

12. Significant Form in Science & Art
13. Why Beauty is Truth & Truth Beauty

Thermodynamics of sustainability

14. Sustainable Cities as Organisms,
15. a Circular Thermodynamics Perspective

Quantum Electrodynamics of Water & Life

5. Water the Means, Medium & Message of Life
6. Illuminating Water & Life, Essay in Honour of Emilio Del Giudice

Fractal mathematics & the Fabric of Nature

17. Story of Phi
18. Space-time is Fractal & Quantum Coherent in the Golden Mean