A fascinating and a frustrating read

The Quantum Revelation: A Radical Synthesis of Science and Spirituality by Paul Levy is at once a fascinating and a frustrating read.

WHAT’S FASCINATING:

If your goal is to understand the explosive implications of quantum physics for how we understand reality and ourselves, and the total inversion it demands of our naïve realist assumptions regarding the existence of a world “out there,” separate from our minds, this is the book for you. Levy goes to inspiring lengths to demonstrate that quantum mechanics is more than a successful theory describing the makeup of the material universe. Rather, quantum theory reveals that there really is no such thing as a “material universe” in the way Isaac Newton described it, the way we all learned it in school, or in the way we personally experience it. That’s all an illusion – just as the world’s spiritual traditions have been trying to tell us for thousands of years.

What makes The Quantum Revelation stand out from the many books making this same point since Fritjof Capra’s 1975 classic The Tao of Physics is that probably a third of Levy’s book is made up of quotes from eminent physicists, leaning heavily on the poetic John Wheeler, with contributions from David Bohm, Freeman Dyson, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Richard Feynman, Albert Einstein and many more. The sheer depth and number of mind-bending, esoteric/mystical statements made by scientists regarding the consequence of quantum theory for our basic definition of “reality” add up. Books in this genre are often dismissed out of hand by hardnosed materialists who insist authors with a spiritual agenda twist quantum theory far beyond the actual science in support of their New Age speculations. In The Quantum Revelation, it is the scientists themselves making the “out there” claims. At length. In their own words. The very scientists who discovered and developed quantum theory. That’s impossible to dismiss.

WHAT’S FRUSTRATING:

If your goal is to understand the actual science of quantum mechanics that led Wheeler, Bohm, Dyson, Bohr, Heisenberg, Feynman, Einstein et al to draw their mind-bending, esoteric/mystical conclusions, you’ll find very little of it in The Quantum Revelation. The famous two-slot photon experiment is here, but a single experiment seems a small nail on which to hang an entire scientific revolution. Schrodinger’s Cat is referenced once as an aside, but is never fully described. Implications of the Many Worlds Interpretation are explored, but we’re never told how that theory came to be. It’s as if the science itself is irrelevant to the point Levy is making, which is that the *implications* of quantum theory change everything. Gosh-wow! Levy’s right, those *implications* are amazing! But the proof of those implications lies in the theory itself, and in the unassailable step by step process by which quantum physicists discovered and developed that theory – a process that is largely missing from this book. It’s like Levy assumes everybody already knows that stuff, so let’s move on to the tasty bits. After a while, I felt like I was buying a car, and the salesman kept telling me how fast it can go when what I really wanted to do was look under the hood and kick the tires. To look under the hood of quantum physics, I’ll have to read a different book – which isn’t a problem for me as a reader; there are lots out there to choose from. But it’s a problem for Levy as a writer because it means his book doesn’t deliver on the promise of its subtitle.

If your sole interest is the spiritual side of the spirituality/science synthesis, you will love this book. It’s fascinating, exciting, and even inspiring on that front.

But if you want the science side of that synthesis to get equal, thorough billing, either skip this book, or at least put it on a list of multiple books you plan to explore on this subject. Levy’s synthesis on its own is incomplete.

I listened to the Tantor Audio audiobook edition of The Quantum Revelation: A Radical Synthesis of Science and Spirituality, narrated by Paul Brion. His delivery isn’t quite deadpan, but it’s close. He’s telling the reader something very exciting, but you won’t hear much of that excitement in his voice. His pacing and diction are good, though.

Overall, I’m awarding The Quantum Revelation 4 stars. It was definitely an interesting, even inspiring, read. But the subtitle promised more than the book delivered.

13 people found this helpful

Reads like a term paper

I was really excited about this book...until I started listening to it. First, the narrator would be better served for meditation. He is quite monotone and it does not provide any motivation to move through the book. Secondly, the author has not sprinkled, not doused - but completely submerged the work with other people's quotes. It reminded me of writing term papers in college and trying to "bulk" up the paper.

3 people found this helpful

Perhaps the most import book of the year

I have read and re-read this book many times as the information is presented so beautifully that I truly enjoy the explanations and presentations that I actually feel excited. When I began to "feel" the importance of integrating the qualities of Quantum Physics into my psyche I could hardly contain myself. As a teacher of meditation I am now able to offer a new language that helps explain states of consciousness that have long been held as out of reach. Thank you Paul Levy for your outstanding work.

3 people found this helpful

Awesome!

I’ve heard this material in bits and pieces. Now it’s all in one spot. Going to read it again this week!!!

2 people found this helpful

Expansion

A mind blowing experience into the nature of who we really are and what we are capable of.

1 person found this helpful

Science discovers the spiritual world?

Cheers to all who could finish this book. WOW! how many times can you say the same thing over and over. He spoke about circular events in such circles I got dizzy and spewed in my mouth a little bit. I did learn about quantum theory which sounds a whole lot like getting a tiny glimpse of consciousness, our spirt. our soul or whatever name you use. Science is just now catching up with thousands of years spiritual awareness. I think these scientists should just take some shrooms or LSD and they would comprehend what many of us already know.

1 person found this helpful

Excellent interpretation of QP

Easy to follow, wonderfully expressed interpretation of Quantum Physics. Must read for QP enthusiasts.

A book for our time.

Thank you, Paul! I’ve been through a lot of material in this genre, and your book is so lucid as to rise to the top of my list. Big quantum hug!

Best Quantum Physics layperson’s book

Paul Levy makes seamless links between physics and Buddhism and other spiritual practices. Every page seems to offer a hypothesis that I’m asked to determine for myself through Experiment, Experience, and Contemplative inquiry- guiding the reader toward our own revelation.
Paul Brion is the perfect narrator, neutral and sonorous. This book might best be combined with Sam Harris’s meditation app Waking Up, which guides you through the daily practice of living the quantum life.

Very important book

This book is helping me to glimpse and recognize the true nature of who we are. It will be of great interest to those who are students of metaphysics. The narration is a bit flat or monotone, but not unpleasant. I intend to read this again.