Product Description
How quantum physics will explain the nature of reality and the human mind. For decades, neuroscientists, psychologists, and an army of brain researchers have been struggling, in vain, to explain the phenomenon of consciousness. Now there is a clear trail to the answer, and it leads through the dense jungle of quantum physics, Zen, and subjective experience, and arrives at an unexpected destination. In this tour-de-force of scientific investigation, Evan Harris Walker shows how the operation of bizarre yet actual properties of elementary particles support a new and exciting theory of reality, based on the principles of quantum physics-a theory that answers questions such as "What is the nature of consciousness, of will?" "What is the source of material reality?" and "What is God?" "A breathtaking journey into the very atoms of the brain...In his rare fusion of intellectual ambition with emotional urgency, Walker exposes the emptiness of a science that avoids the ultimate questions." -Booklist

Amazon.com Review
It's not every day you hear a physicist ask what happens when we die. Evan Harris Walker, sparked by the early, tragic loss of his love, does just that and more in The Physics of Consciousness, a book in the same vein as Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, but with a firmer grounding in scientific understanding. Walker marries the traditions of Southern literature--a longing for the past, a resignation toward the present, and a determined optimism about the future--to a technical explanation of the limits of materialism; a weird synthesis, certainly, but charming and engaging nonetheless. Since his primary topic is consciousness, Walker turns to neuroscience and Buddhism (its spiritual equivalent) for inspiration. His quantum-mechanical approach to synaptic transmission and "the speed of consciousness" are difficult to evaluate and seem a bit overstretched, but his discussions of the history and current events of physics are lucid and ironically lend weight to his antimaterialistic arguments. Is this, as he hopes, another step toward 21st-century religion, or just another New Age reinterpretation of the spooky world of the ultrasmall? Don't bet on either--The Physics of Consciousness will jog your brain in new ways and, if nothing else, you'll find a new appreciation for how little we really know about ourselves. --Rob Lightner

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 41 reviews)

Ponderous, laborious. by Matthew J. Schimpf (Niagara Falls, NY)

2 Stars
November 22, 2009
I had a tremendously difficult time with this book, as I have to admit, it was quite a bit over my head. In truth it was the mathematical content that made reading this book a grueling task for me. The major impact of this work however, is of paramount importance. We have a quantum physicist that is imploring the rest of the scientific world to sit up, take notice and embrace the FACT that consciousness exists and that materialism must now be put to rest, like any other dogma that no longer serves (or ever had) a purpose. The writing was a bit clumsy, but all in all, not a horrible read. 2 Stars is all I can muster.

novice by Watash

3 Stars
October 08, 2009
I was drawn to this book because there are so many things about which there are no answers and about which I would like answers. Reading thru it has been slow because I lack a science background or forgot it. I find the side bars about the Author's lost love an intrusion and distraction. I thought perhaps, he was motivated to write this book by the loss of his long time love companion and now this was a way not only to answer his questions of what had happened to Merilyn; where is she now and as a way to memorialize her. Because it has been slow going, I am getting a little anxious and want to do some quantum leaps to material ahead that might give me food for thought. For most of my adult life, I have believed that God was everywhere, but now the "everywhere" is without limits. The Gospel of Thomas on page 327 made me close my eyes and weep. I will finish this book in due time and hope that I find some of the answers I seek.

The Ultimate Road to Reality by F. Simoni (O'Fallon, MO USA)

5 Stars
October 04, 2009
The Physics of Consciousness takes Physics into a journey that leads it around 360 degrees back to its foundation on sound Philosophy with the addition of the best centuries-old experiences of metaphysical and mystical authorities. This is not simply the exposition of another theory. It represents a lifetime of research and total dedication to find answers to the burning human questions: What is Reality? Why am I here? What happens when I die? Walker exibits the human ability for thorough, methodical, and magnificently detailed analysis of physical theories at its best. This is not only a book to be read as another book on physics. It's a book one can live by.

sources and lenses by litefoot (CA, south)

3 Stars
August 21, 2009
A learned and labyrinthian work, impressive in scope. The asides about the author's first-love tragedy recur to the point of distraction; a one-time preliminary homage might have worked better. From my reading, two points: 1) that our perception actively co-creates the world is not a recent quantum discovery. Kant articulated this first; no references to him here. 2) this tome is introduced as a quest without preconditions, but in the final chapter (hardcover, p.336) the author identifies himself as a Christian. Upfront disclosure would have been more appropriate. I closed the book with one question: was the driver for this work inquiry or need?

An enquiry into the physical basis of consciousness by Rama Rao (Annandale, VA, USA)

4 Stars
March 18, 2009
This book is a part autobiographical and parts an enquiry into the physical basis of consciousness. The author was influenced by his high school sweetheart who died at the age of 16 due to leukemia. This had profound effect on his scientific and spiritual life which made him to participate in this odyssey of seeking the truth. Sometimes it makes an interesting reading when he reminisces about his high school days in the middle of a discussion of quantum physical phenomenon. The book is somewhat technical and requires undergraduate level physics for a clear understanding. Some chapters use significant amount of physics and in some parts fair amount of neurobiology is also required. Sometimes it is difficult to read because these two diverse subjectsare widely used in discussions. The take-home message of this book is summarized below: The author broadly describes consciousness as all things in totality (associated with everything in the universe) and it is also reality, but does not define specifically because the definitions and delineations require objective demonstrations. Consciousness is affected by matter or by events in the physical world; therefore consciousness originates from non-physical contact with physical reality that could be described by all fundamental things that makeup physical world. This may be understood with the Schrödinger equation and Einstein's relativity; if consciousness is tied all at once to all physical reality that the Schrödinger equation suggests or tied to space, time, mass (energy), or one of the four forces. The author discusses the importance of each concept and concludes that consciousness could not be tied directly to any of these constructs of the physical world, but it could be linked by quantum physical process at the synaptic junctions of nervous systems. Two parts of the nervous system are considered; the nerves and the synapse, it is at the synapse where an estimated 23.5 trillion neural connections exists and where the information from nerve to nerve passes or fails to pass. Here is where the mind-brain contact exists; here is where data of our senses are processed and refined in the brain. Synapses interact through quantum tunneling mechanism, the author concludes. As the electron and synapse interact to produce quantum potentialities, the state vectors; the consciousness emerges through this, and it is these branching and interlaced collections of quantum potentialities weaving together possibilities that we experience as consciousness. By selecting which synapse will fire, consciousness turns this into an individual will (when an observation takes place, one synapse collapses to one state in association with consciousness thus leading to will). Subsequently mind brings into reality each moment of thoughts, experience and actions. It is suggested that there is no space, time or matter (energy): The conscious observer creates the spacetime and matter from his conscious mind, the quantum mind is the first cause, time-independent and non-local. The concept of individual identity emerges naturally through quantum consciousness when brain-mind functions transition to consciousness and thus a new identity is acquired. The author uses both Vedanta (Hindu philosophy) and Buddhist philosophies considerably in his discussions. In the final analysis, the author concludes that life, thought, and consciousness are three separate things. An organism does not have to have consciousness to be capable of thought, because a computer (data processing and computing) is capable of thought. Consciousness may exist somewhere without being a part of either a part of living body or data processing system, because they are consequence of one or more quantum mechanical events. These events are mediated by infinite number of discrete, conscious, and non-thinking entities: These conscious entities determine each quantum mechanical events. The idea that consciousness need not be a part of living entity is controversial. Secondly the author fails to consider the fact that computers and software run machines are programmed by human beings, at least in the early stages of development. Many unicellular and multicellular organisms (and plants and trees) do not have central nervous systems or brains but they independently run their own lives. The body functions according to laws of nature, but body/mind direct motions, foresee alternative effects that may be fateful for its existence, and face the consequences. The conclusion that "I" be it an animal or a plant is used in the widest meaning of the word, which means to state that, I who control the motion of the molecules according to the laws of nature. I reproduce or give birth or create another living being like myself. I can be consequential to the fate of another living species, hence I am special, the personal self equal the all-comprehending- eternal-self. The Upanishads states that Atman is equal to Brahman, and consciousness is never experienced in plural but only in the singular. If consciousness of different people are different, then each individual has a separate soul (plurality of souls), but plurality is merely a series of different aspect of one soul and one conscious, produced by the deception of Maya. This is same as illusion produced in a gallery of mirrors. 1. What Is Life?: with "Mind and Matter" and "Autobiographical Sketches" 2. Schrödinger: Life and Thought 3. Schrodinger's Science and the Human Temerament 4. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science 5. Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg 6. Synchronicity, Science, and Soulmaking: Understanding Jungian Syncronicity Through Physics, Buddhism, and Philosphy 7. Niels Bohr's Times,: In Physics, Philosophy, and Polity 8. Ideas And Opinions

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