Book reviews for "Peat,_F._David" sorted by average review score:

The Blackwinged Night: Creativity in Nature and Mind
Published in Paperback by Perseus Publishing (08 May, 2001)
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To start with I am not generally a science reader, but I thought that the relationship of science and creativity would be interesting. This book caused reactions in me ranging from decent enjoyment (few and far between) to a revulsion for its trite, simplistic conclusions on creativity in life. To be fair I found the chapter on language very interesting and thought Peat did an excellent job in explaining certain scientific theories in a basic understandable manner. However his conclusions on "creating the curve and story of your life" have all been said before, and Peat seems singularly unrealistic and (I think I said this before) TRITE. In addition he occasionally goes quite far afield with his examples, and his attempts at figurative language are sickeningly clumsy (almost purple prose if you know what I mean, it's apparent he's trying much too hard to prove his creative writing ability). This book has very little to say that's new, and if you're looking for something about the joy, creativity, and meaning of everyday life, (which is basically what he is trying to prove) try someone with more skill and knowlege of how to craft glistening prose and who also thinks a little more deeply (Annie Dillard is forever wonderful).

This is an excellent book, one of those very few that manage to be both disarmingly simple yet profound at once. Peat is a past-master at grasping the most arcane and difficult theories. He has studied and written on chaos theory, the science of complexity, fractals, quantum mysteries, David Bohm's implicate order, and subjects of special interest in the art world. Simultanously, he has translated these ideas into digestible portions for the intelligent layman reader. He is the best of the bunch when it comes to science writing and he is also very knowledgeable about the higher echelons of the current art world. In this book, however, I got the impression he wrote just for himself. He does not bother to explicate complex theories or even to give references for many of the facts and phrases which well up in him. Instead, he just uses his background in science and the arts to make this beautiful pure statement on the varied expressions of creativity, from the human to the universal. Indeed, his book edges into the metaphysical by implying that the Supreme Ultimate behind all things is in fact creativity itself -- the first creative act being the creation of form out of the infinite creative potential of the void. (If anyone wants more excruciating detail about how such creativity could manifest itself, they may need to read A. N. Whitehead.) Peat notes that creative chaos, the Dionysian, begins the furor of all creative inspiration, but also that this phase must be followed by the long period of laborious, ordered endeavour to find appropriate form for this initial inspiration, that is, the Apollonian. He compares this pattern among many of his current favorite art forms as well as in the creative dynamics of Nature as revealed through science. The result is, well, beautiful and moving and, yes, inspiring. I truly appreciated the idea that a sort of blind crativity is the "Prime Mover" beyond the forms of reality. To deny creativity it is to become unconscious and moribund. But creativity is not novelty; it often means seeking new depths in the old or reexperiencing current patterns as though for the first time, as in, for example, human relations. The book is a short, easy read, but one that demands full--creative--attention if one is to comprehend its implied depth. Highly recommended.

The Armchair Guide to Murder and Detection
Published in Hardcover by Deneau Pub & Co Ltd (1984)
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Artificial Intelligence
Published in Paperback by Baen Books (1988)
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Artificial Intelligence: How Machines Think
Published in Paperback by Baen Books (1988)
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Cold Fusion: The Making of a Scientific Controversy
Published in Hardcover by NTC/Contemporary Publishing (1989)
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Glimpsing Reality: Ideas in Physics and the Link to Biology
Published in Paperback by Univ of Toronto Pr (1996)
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Lighting the Seventh Fire: The Spiritual Ways, Healing, and Science of the Native American
Published in Hardcover by Birch Lane Pr (1994)
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Looking Glass Universe: The Emerging Science of Wholeness (Touchstone Book)
Published in Paperback by Simon & Schuster (Paper) (1986)
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Nuclear Book
Published in Paperback by Univ of Toronto Pr (1976)
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The Philosopher's Stone: Chaos, Synchronicity, and the Hidden Order of the World
Published in Paperback by Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd Pap) (1991)
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