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Summary: One of the most important achievements of 20th century..
Review: For me, this book is the thing that changed my view upon the universe. Before this book, I was a critical reductionist with a mechanistic view. I am too short of English to express what this book was for me :) but the only thing I can tell you is that if there were only one book that I could have in my life, this book would be that one.. I can't estimate the value of this, surely one of the most important achievements of 20th century..
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Summary: Monument to foresight of author and short-sight of publisher
Review: I first encountered this book while researching my dissertation on chaos/complexity/systems theories and their implications for clinical psychology (It was only due to the marvelous holdings of the University of Pennsylvania library that I was able to find it at all...I'll get back to that). It wasn't long before I realized that I had stumbled across a staggeringly important volume. The scope of the late Professor Jantsch's vision on subjects ranging from biology and chemistry to cosmology and earth science was (IS!) breathtaking. Long before anyone outside of circumscribed and as-yet unconnected circles had ever mentioned the words "Chaos" or "Dynamical Systems" theory, Jantsch was lucidly and adroitly anticipating some of the most advanced implications of this unborn paradigm. As a friend and colleague of the great Ilya Prigogine, this is perhaps not so surprising in retrospect. However, his encapsulation of self-organization and self-similarity is still, in my opinion, one of the more mature and comprehensive treatments on the subjects to date! His incorporation of the theories of evolution (seen as both a "micro" and a "macro-" level process) brought it all together in a way which joins and integrates disciplines like neurons link brain and body. All the more reason why I am appalled that this book is so completely out of circulation that my last out-of-print search turned up one volume (after several months), at a cost of over $200US! It is unconscionable that this pivotal work is inaccessible to students, scientists, and instructors, at a time when Jantsch's ideas are so relevant to this increasingly interconnected, evolving global civilization. The closest thing we have is Teillhard de Chardin...and Jantsch does it without the teleological, eschatological baggage which Chardin could not, in the end, escape. It is true that many of the specific ideas in this book are out-of-date (hence 4 stars rather than 5). However, he hits far more often than he misses, and we are all the poorer for inaccessibility of his work. A note to any publishers out there: I personally photocopied the entire book, a move of dubious legality but lamentable necessity. I would VERY gladly replace my yellowing stack of Xeroxes with a duly purchased copy, if given the chance. If your interests lie anywhere in the realms which I have (woefully superficially) mentioned, then it is worth your while to go WAY out of your way to read this book. Pardon the hyperbole and the soap-box.
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Summary: Erich Jantsch, The Self-Organizing Universe
Review: I just want to agree with the four earlier reviewers. I think I found Jantsch's book in 1985, and to me life has never been the same afterwards. Jantsch taught me that the world is like me, I am no stranger living in a strange world that is cold and hostile (Monod). Since then I've left my research object, literature, and spent my time reading and writing, following his steps. The result can be seen on my website www.lagerroth.com. I, too, copied the whole book, but afterwards I found a German paperback edition: Die Selbstorganisation des Universums (3 ed 1986, from original hardcover 1979). Maybe it is still in print.
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Summary: The self-organizing reviewer
Review: It's a shame this book is out of print. No longer up-to-date on every detail, but still ahead of the curve on the big picture. Jantsch uses self-organizing systems theory to tie cosmic, geological, biological and cultural evolution together into a unified vision. A book of science with profound social and (to my mind) spiritual implications. Certainly worth the used softcover price, although be warned, the Pergamon softcover binding tends to crack and fall apart (I went through two of them). But at $300+ the hardcover is definately for the serious buyer only (I was lucky and bought mine in the mid-eighties at Powell's for $40). You might also check out Fritjof Capra's 1996 'The Web of Life'. It's an updated version of 'The Self-Organizing Universe' (see page 111: "My own synthesis of these concepts in the present book is, in a sense, a reformulation of Erich Jantsch's earlier work.") Also recommended: any books by Ervin Lazslo, Ilya Prigogine or James Lovelock.
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Summary: Why is this out of print?
Review: This book and Chaitin's "The Limits of Mathematics" should be printed in softcover and distributed at supermarkets. This is perhaps one of the most important books of the 20th century, simply because Jantsch has managed to finally put a very large amount of information (just the reading list is worth the price of the book) in one place. Thermodynamics, cybernetics, mathematics, computing, physics...they've all been saying the same thing for years now and for some reason we irrationally ignore the message: the TRUTH is not to be found in a formal system based on anything resembling the Aristotelian logic we of the Western world love so dearly...And the deeper we wallow in our mythical constructions the more likely we won't be around for very long.This is not a "lite" book; perhaps that is why the copy I have (an inspection copy from a major university) has only been taken out seven times since 1980! Pathetic considering the current hand-waving taking place in AI (particularly the work of Dennett and the Churchlands) and the philosophy of mind. The only other place to find the overview is in Leduc's IEEE paper "Human Knowledge: can the planet survive human rationality?". Perlovsky's work in cybernetics is also an excellent place to see similar results. It is unfortunate this is out of print; perhaps you can find a copy in a library. Better yet, start bugging the publisher to reprint it.
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