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Capra (Fritjof) Papers
BANC MSS 2019/173
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Fritjof Capra papers, 1966-2016
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2019/173
Physical Description:
17.5 linear feet
11 cartons, 1 oversize box
Date (inclusive): 1966-2016
Abstract: The Fritjof Capra Papers include documentation of Capra's professional work as a physicist, educator, author, activist and
founder of Berkeley-based environmental organizations The Elmwood Institute and The Center for Ecoliteracy. The collection
includes limited personal documentation, consisting primarily of photographs in Series 6.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection is open for research.
No future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Fritjof Capra's papers were gifted to The Bancroft Library by Fritjof Capra in 2019.
Fritjof Capra is an Austrian-born American physicist, author and environmental educator and activist. Capra was born in Vienna,
Austria on February 1, 1939 and received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna in 1966. He then spent
two decades conducting research in theoretical high-energy physics at the Imperial College London (U.K.), Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at University of California, University of California at Santa Cruz, University
of London (U.K.), and University of Paris (France). Capra was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University
of Plymouth (U.K.) in 2006.
Following the publication of Capra's internationally best-selling book The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels
Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism in 1975, Capra worked toward developing a conceptual framework that integrates
the four dimensions of life as he views it: the biological, the cognitive, the social, and the ecological. The Tao of Physics
has been published in dozens of editions and in more than 20 languages. Subsequent titles authored by Capra include: The Turning
Point: Science, Society and the Rising Culture (1982), Uncommon Wisdom (1988), The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding
of Living Systems (1996), The Hidden Connections (2002), The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the
Renaissance (2007), Learning from Leonardo: Decoding the Notebooks of a Genius (2013).
Capra co-authored several books including Green Politics (1984) with Charlene Spretnak, Belonging to the Universe: Explorations
on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality (1993) with David Steindl-Rast and Thomas Matus, and The Systems View of Life
(2014) with Pier Luigi Luisi. He also co-wrote the motion picture Mindwalk (1990), along with his brother, writer/director
Bernt Capra. The film starred Liv Ullman, Sam Waterston and John Heard and was based on Capra's 1982 book The Turning Point.
In 1984, Capra established The Elmwood Institute as an ecological think-tank in Berkeley and became a founding director of
The Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley in 1995. He has taught at many institutions, including San Francisco State University
and the University of California's Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses, and serves as a Fellow of Schumacher College (U.K.).
Capra is a Council member of Earth Charter International and is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Gold
Medal of the UK Systems Society, the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity from the Media
Ecology Association, the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic, the Leonardo da Vinci Medallion of Honor from the
University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona, the Bioneers Award, the New Dimensions Broadcaster Award, the American
Book Award, and the Gold IndieFab Award from Foreword Reviews.
[Identification of item], Fritjof Capra papers, BANC MSS 2019/173c,The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Arranged to the folder level. Original order of creator kept almost entirely intact.
The Fritjof Capra Papers include documentation of Capra's professional work as a physicist, educator, author, activist and
founder of Berkeley-based environmental organizations The Elmwood Institute and The Center for Ecoliteracy. The collection
includes limited personal documentation, consisting primarily of photographs in Series 6. Materials in Capra's papers include
correspondence, notes, article and lecture texts, research papers, newsletters, discussion guides and curriculum, manuscripts
and drafts of book publications, book permissions and reviews, book tour schedules and photographic documentation, book illustrations,
screenplays and film treatments, audio-visual documentation of lectures, interviews and appearances, and personal and professional
photographs. Capra is fluent in German, English, French and Italian and the collection includes materials in those languages
as well as Japanese, Italian, Portugese, and others. Capra's inventory and personal introduction to his archive (as given
to the Library with these papers) is included in the first folder of the first carton.
Books have been removed to the Library's Cataloging Unit for separate cataloging.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html