In a way, a book is always about the profound influences its author is exposed to. So, that's what my introduction would likely focus on. While I never had any formal education in physics, other than what we learnt at high school, I was, nevertheless, interested in scientific philosophy variously from the time I was in university. These, my early forays into scientific philosophy, led me down uncharted paths; though in the end leaving me with more questions than answers.
Surprisingly, most of what I have garnered on the philosophy of contemporary physics - especially on the transition from Classical to Neo classical theory - can be attributed to A S Edington's classic book called the 'Nature of the Physical World', which came at a much later stage in my quest. In the intervening period, before I came across this book, however, my life saw me pursuing studies in Vedanta - the part of Hindu Vedic scriptures that dealt entirely with knowledge rather than rituals .
These pursuits were by no means in a university but at the feet of various scholars who lived as ascetics and taught novitiate aspirants like me in the traditional Hindu way in ashrams. While I am, by no means, an authority of any sort on Vedanta, these years helped create a picture of its cosmology, which is my interpretation of it within the limits to which we may stretch their meaning. I stumbled upon Edington's book by, what most would call, chance during this period; though, I'd call it destiny.
It was a dust gathered copy of 'The Nature of the Physical World' I came across at an old ashram in north India in an equally antiquated library. Thus would begin, in retrospect, my quest to understand the nuances of modern day physics and their parallels in Vedanta literature. All this was in the 80s and the 90s of the last century. The early 2000s was spent in much frustration and more questions, as my quest continued among other worldly pursuits which saw me work as an unremarkable journalist, writer, and editor. This first edition of the 'The Hymn of Creation' is, in a way, somewhat the culmination of a quest that has, off and on, stretched several decades.
Without doubt though, it is certainly not the end but just what I have been able to put down in the form of a story till now.
Surprisingly, most of what I have garnered on the philosophy of contemporary physics - especially on the transition from Classical to Neo classical theory - can be attributed to A S Edington's classic book called the 'Nature of the Physical World', which came at a much later stage in my quest. In the intervening period, before I came across this book, however, my life saw me pursuing studies in Vedanta - the part of Hindu Vedic scriptures that dealt entirely with knowledge rather than rituals .
These pursuits were by no means in a university but at the feet of various scholars who lived as ascetics and taught novitiate aspirants like me in the traditional Hindu way in ashrams. While I am, by no means, an authority of any sort on Vedanta, these years helped create a picture of its cosmology, which is my interpretation of it within the limits to which we may stretch their meaning. I stumbled upon Edington's book by, what most would call, chance during this period; though, I'd call it destiny.
It was a dust gathered copy of 'The Nature of the Physical World' I came across at an old ashram in north India in an equally antiquated library. Thus would begin, in retrospect, my quest to understand the nuances of modern day physics and their parallels in Vedanta literature. All this was in the 80s and the 90s of the last century. The early 2000s was spent in much frustration and more questions, as my quest continued among other worldly pursuits which saw me work as an unremarkable journalist, writer, and editor. This first edition of the 'The Hymn of Creation' is, in a way, somewhat the culmination of a quest that has, off and on, stretched several decades.
Without doubt though, it is certainly not the end but just what I have been able to put down in the form of a story till now.