Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Routledge Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, 4 July 2002

After discovering Bohm’s book my Divinity Dissertation changed direction because it explains the reality of life in a way which actually makes sense.

This is an intense book and not at all an easy read, many of the concepts being difficult ones to grasp and being articulated in great depth! Slow and thoughtful perseverance and ponderance of the text does make this a fascinating read, however.The book contains a great deal of essential philosophical wisdom and some thought provoking science, crucially being a strong reminder that our scientific theories are the progeny of our ideas about reality, rather than a representation of reality itself. There is so much we don't know, but it's fascinating finding this out.However, there is also much that we (humanity) are learning. As Bohm points out, one of the key things we are starting to learn is not to look so much to fragmentation for answers, but rather to also adopt a holistic perspective, viewing the relationships between `objects' as key to understanding, rather than focusing strongly upon the perceived structure of the objects themselves.I am familiar with a certain amount of quantum physics, having done some studying, so this helps with comprehension of the concepts discussed. I'm not sure how a complete novice would cope with the quantum theory (well, actually, I am fairly sure!), but if you have already done some reading on this subject, most of the more technical parts can be understood!Overall, a very fine piece of work.

What a read! Both in terms of difficulty (even forgetting the maths!) and the concepts discussed.Mr Bohm's name is deservedly uttered in the same breath as the likes of Newton, Einstein et al. and I'm not surprised that his ideas have brought about a paradigm shift in scientific thinking. The subject he tackles in this book is a big one: the universe and our place in it. This is not an easy read as he deals with abstract concepts like thought, knowledge, intelligence etc., and you may find yourself reading and re-reading chapter after chapter, but persevere....this book has answers to big questions!

Bohm's thinking on wholeness had great significance for my work in thinking about the integrated organisation and integrated marketing. Bohm is acknowledged as one of the major physicists of the 20th century, but his thinking led to a position that challenged the conventions of the time. In an attempt to resolve the divide between relativity theory and quantum theory, he postulated an underlying deeper order that united the two (the implicate order). I'm not convinced that this will win through in the end, at least not in the form that he outlines it, but in the process of doing this he outlines and discovers the fundamental of wholeness that underpins and permeates all reality. He also comes to an awareness of the importance of thought itself and the means by which the kinds of thoughts that we have determine the kind of reality that we have, so that the fragmented nature of science, and human knowledge more generally, as taught leads to a fragmented view of the universe. Moreover as long as we give prominence to the analytical mode this will always be the case. Other forms of thinking, for example analogic, circular and Zen give rise to quite different modes of knowing. Moreover the observation of thinking itself as a dynamic flow leads to a quite other understanding of the nature of consciousness, life and the universe. This led him to his work on dialogue and has parallels with Whitehead's Process and Reality and Heidegger

You'll get a more deeper understanding of his ideas here. It might be at times "technical" but it's worth going through it and dedicating time and attention to properly understand what he's talking about.Love the book.

As others have said, this is not an easy read - I am not a physicist, nevertheless, I WAS able to 'get my head around' the concepts being presented here.I feel that this book should be read by as many people as possible - the concepts contained therein are infinitely fascinating and point to a different way of understanding that which now seems to be un-intelligible because of the very way in which we approach it. Our current way of thinking that everything is fragmented and separate leads to great misconceptions and if only we can grasp the fact that utterly everything is connected we shall have come a long way along the road to a deeper knowledge of all that is.In other words, we could come to see the great wholeness that is everything.

Really enjoying this book! As a physics student, this offers an alternative view of the universe that makes absolute sense.

On the wings of the spirit of Plotinus. A search for wholeness and the cascading intellectual fruits as it is approached.