Deciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Schutzumschlag berieben, leichte Randl�ren, leicht klaffender Einband, Bleistiftanmerkung auf Vorsatz, sonst gut und innen sauber / dust jacket rubbed, light edgewear, binding slightly chipped, pencil annotation on endpaper, otherwise good and internally clean. - Is there a number at the root of the universe? A primal number that everything in the world hinges on? Physicists, psychologists, and mystics throughout history have pondered this question. Some have proposed three, as in the Trinity and the three dimensions; some have suggested four, as in the seasons, directions, and number of limbs. Or is the answer �137,� which describes the fine-structure constant of the atom and also happens to be the sum of the Hebrew letters of the word �Kabbalah�? This question exercised many great minds of the twentieth century, among them the groundbreaking physicist Wolfgang Pauli and the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Both men would make enormous and lasting contributions to their fields. Pauli predicted the existence of the neutrino in the thirties�many decades before it was actually discovered�and Jung codified his own occult dream analysis into his theory of a collective unconscious. But in their many letters and meetings, Pauli and Jung went much further. Pauli, who became obsessed with the almost mystical power of certain numbers to explain the world, went to Jung for enlightenment and psychological validation of this quest. Jung, in turn, was convinced that science held the answers to some of the questions that tormented him and looked to Pauli for the physical underpinnings to his quasi-mystical theories. Their discussions led them, in Jung�s words, into �the no-man�s land between Physics and the Psychology of the Unconscious . the most fascinating yet the darkest hunting ground of our times.� This expertly narrated, lavishly illustrated dual biography tells the story of these mavericks in search of the cosmic number�a quest that takes them deep into the works of medieval alchemists, dream interpretation, Johannes Kepler, and even the Chinese Book of Changes, the I Ching. It is a story that ranges across time and space, and illustrates the curios yet profound intersection of modern science with alchemy and mysticism. But above all it is the story of an extraordinary and fruitful friendship between two of the greatest thinkers of our times. / Contents Acknowledgments Prologue 1 Dangerously Famous 2 Early Successes, Early Failures 3 The Philosopher�s Stone 4 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 5 Intermezzo�Three versus Four: Alchemy, Mysticism, and the Dawn of Modern Science 6 Pauli, Heisenberg, and the Great Quantum Breakthrough 7 Mephistopheles 8 The Dark Hunting Ground of the Mind 9 Mandalas 10 The Superior Man Sets His Life in Order 11 Synchronicity 12 Dreams of Primal Numbers 13 Second Intermezzo�Road to Yesterday 14 Through the Looking Glass 15 The Mysterious Number 137 Epilogue: The Legacy of Pauli and Jung Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index.