The Seven Mysteries Of Life: An Exploration of Science and Philosophy by Guy Murchie (PDF)

Description

An American Book Award finalist, Guy Murchie’s The Seven Mysteries of Life “embraces all the important information about everything humanity needs to know for continuance aboard planet Earth, or anywhere else in the universe” (Buckminster Fuller).”All life in all worlds”—this was the object of the author’s seventeen-year quest for knowledge and discovery, culminating in this book. In a manner unmistakably his own, Murchie delves into the interconnectedness of all life on the planet and of such fields as biology, geology, sociology, mathematics, and physics to provide an astonishing journey into the essence of science, philosophy, and inspiration.”Murchie has a remarkably comprehensive knowledge of science and writes about it with the gifts of a poet plus a highly personal, visionary, mystical spirit.”—Wall Street Journal”A good book to take to a desert island as sole companion, so rich is it in knowledge and insight.”—New York Times best-selling author May Sarton

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Guy Murchie, the author of Song of the Sky, Music of the Spheres, and The Soul School, won the John Burroughs Medal.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I can’t remember how I first heard of this book–probably from reading book reviews on Amazon. I must have been impressed with the reviews because I bought one but when I received my first copy I was disappointed to find that the copyright was dated 1978 and every third or fourth page was illustrated with detailed, hand-drawn sketches that reminded me of my high school Biology class where I made similar drawings of cells and plants. My first reaction was that the book was a little less than cutting-edge. Nevertheless it was a new book and I started to read it.After several nights of reading the book in bed, I distinctly remember that one night I stopped reading, opened my eyes wider, looked at the cover of the book, and I said out loud, very slowly and deliberately, “This is a good book.” The next night I said to myself, “Every single page of this book is full of interesting ideas. I could pick any page of this book at random and really enjoy reading each page.” There was no filler in the book at all. Every page, even every sentence was a work of art, thought provoking, and delicious. I reconsidered my opinion of the hand-made illustrations and instead of seeing them as low-tech productions I saw them as the careful drawings of a masterful philosopher, scientist, poet, or artist–I wasn’t sure which.Guy Murchie began his book’s preface with these words: “When I undertook this work in the spring of 1961, I was quite aware that I would almost certainly be thought presumptuous in attempting to write about all of life in one book. But I have to go ahead in the faith that any such seemingly impossible, if not harebrained, project on such a universal theme could hardly help being worthwhile–largely because of its rarity.”Rarity is an understatement. Murchie’s book is more densely packed with great ideas than anything I had ever read before. Unlike many popular science books that spend 300 pages restating the same three ideas, or unlike other science books that are impenetrable because of a masochistic writing style that heaps abuse upon any would-be reader, Murchie’s book is a sheer delight to read and constantly surprises the reader with insights about life, the universe, and what it all means–insights that are expressed so freshly that they seem new. Murchie took seventeen years to write this magnum opus and “averaged less than one finished sentence a day during all this time,” he said in his preface. He called his writing, “painstaking” which must be true because I can’t imagine any poet laboring more over word choices than Murchie obviously did. His writing flows, is enchanting and reveals a universe that is more beautiful, rational, and caring than anything I had ever heard from science before–although later I would discover similar joy from guys like Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman.Unlike a magician who astounds by what he does not reveal, Guy Murchie astounds by what he does reveal that we have not been seeing but which has always been in plain sight. Murchie is, then, in this sense, a revelator.Toward the end of his book, on page 614, Murchie wrote some kind words about the prophet Baha’u’llah. I immediately started to worry that the author of this great book that I had been falling in love with would suddenly reveal himself to be an unbalanced follower of yet another cult leader. I researched the Baha’i Faith religion that Baha’u’llah founded and encountered what seemed to be a peace-loving-enough community. After reading a list of their core beliefs (and after reading Murchie’s book), I honestly felt that I had never read a one-page list of beliefs written by someone else that I could agree with more than this one. Nevertheless, I knew that what looks good on paper may not necessarily be so beautiful when practiced as an institutional religion. So I haven’t attempted to learn much more about the Baha’is except to find out they conduct meetings in San Diego that I would like to attend once just to get an idea about how successful they have been at putting their wonderful ideas into the messy realm of organized religion. I wish them well.I searched for “Guy Murchie” on the internet and learned that he was a tall man and just as gracious and charming, by others’ accounts, as I had imagined him to be. Although I would love to read a little biography about him, it is not really necessary for his writing sufficiently reveals the man Murchie to be one of my all-time favorite human beings whose hand I would be honored to shake while expressing a little gratitude for creating a work so beautiful that I can only describe it as art, an odd choice of words for the book that I would most like to take to a desert island.

⭐This book was a lot larger tome than I thought it would be. I am thrilled at the topics presented. I purposely chose a topic that would be hard to understand and the author does it well. I found this author by looking his name up after reading a short article on an accident that happened to him when he was flying a glider with some friends in Germany. They got into a thundercloud which was very cold and he and his friends evacuated their gliders and the weather took them up and froze them like hailstones. They kept being drawn up and down until they were coated. He is the only one to survive. It was surmised that he had been cushioned by the ice. I never could find anything relating how he was found.

⭐This is a note of thanks to the late, great Guy Murchiefor “Seven Mysteries”. It impressed me as one of the most sensitive, insightful and profound journeys into what constitutes life from the micro to the macro and it left with me a much deeper appreciation for the awesome dynamics of life. It is science: microbiology to astronomy, mythology, philosophy and so much more. Murchie was a dynamic, wide-ranging thinker and “Mysteries” is his masterpiece of an abundance of accumulated knowledge.His prose range from easy, flowing science to lyrical, poetic musings on the dynamics of life. He does not overwhelm, yet runs deep into thoughtful observation and meditation producing wise assessments on matters at hand before moving on, indeed, he is building to a complete, unification theory of life and he takes his time- it’s necessary for the eventual summation.All through the book are beautiful, intricate line drawings artfully rendered by Murchie. He included illustrations of everything from microscopic life-forms (diatoms, etc.) to renderings of representative life-forms in the evolutionary tree, etc., and then on to the macro astronomical vistas and all with amazing detail.Although “Mysteries” predates James Lovelock’s “Healing Gaia”, it was constructed from the same inspiration garnered from the beautiful view of our “Blue Planet Earth” from space.As with Lovelock and many others, Murchie viewed the Earth as a living, self regulating, life support system and his science to support that notion is as good as it gets.After Murchie’s exacting description of physical/biological life as we know it, he then goes on to examine one of his favorite subjects: music- harmonious sounds created by the movement and vibration of physical objects. This, by the way, is the subject of another earlier book of his, “The Music of the Spheres”.The book finishes with a poetic summary of the *seven mysteries*: Abstraction, Interrelation, Omnipresence, Polarity, Transcendence, Germination, and Divinity.All through the book, Murchie is preparing us for a compelling sense of intentionality in the dynamics and purpose of life and he does this as good or better than just about anyone. If I had to give up all my books but one, “Seven Mysteries” would be the one- the keeper!

⭐How did I miss this book/author all these years!? What a wonderful, poetic, insightful book. I’m taking my time working through it and finding it a worthy endeavor.

⭐Absolutely phenomenal book. The amount of scientific knowledge and wisdom distilled into this book is truly mindblowing. Not to mention it is done with such poetic eloquence.A book filled with wonder. If you yearn to feel that feeling of wonder inside of you like you did as a child, read this book. If you yearn for a feeling of connection to the world around you, read this book.They say it took Guy Murchie 15 years to write this book. After reading it and seeing the amount of knowledge synthesized and condensed into this book, I am astounded that he was able to get it done in only 15 years.A book that should be read and re-read by every human.In my top 5 of best books of all time.- Ari Whitten, author of Forever Fat Loss and The Low Carb Myth

⭐Just dipped into this as I purchased it as a gift. Lovely edition. And parts of it do seem interesting. The seller is v good too.

⭐Amazing. Very many interesting facts and fun to read.

⭐My book arrived quickly and in good condition – exactly as described, I am very pleased with the service!David Jarrold

⭐This is a most unusual book. First of all, the author has an elaborate writing style that incorporates poetic phrasing in describing scientific explanations of phenomena. As the phenomena are truly majestic, it is a style that broadens and enriches the references. Secondly, the details and drawings employed are not only well chosen, but reinforce the idea of mystery. As the title implies, you are truly on a journey whose objective is to uncover “the seven mysteries of life”!

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