Schrödinger's Cat & The Golden Bough Reflections on Science, Mythology and Magic

by Bancroft, Randy

• ISBN13: 9780761817499
• ISBN10: 0761817492
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-18
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

Schrödinger's Cat & The Golden Bough addresses the relationship between science and mythology from the starting points of Frazer's The Golden Bough and Erwin Schrödinger's famous cat. From the Greek origins of modern scientific thought, Bancroft traces the intertwining and separation of mythology, magic, and science through the ages. Drawing on psychology, mythology, literature, and history of science, the author, a physicist who works with electromagnetic Field Theory, presents a fascinating and provocative cross-disciplinary study.

Table of Contents

The Spectrum of Symbolism	1	(46)
The Golden Bough	1	(6)
Schrodinger's Cat	7	(3)
The Origin of Symbols	10	(2)
Mathematical Symbols	12	(5)
Linguistic Symbols	17	(2)
Written Symbols	19	(2)
Mythological Symbols	21	(2)
Perception of Graphic Symbols	23	(12)
Perception of Auditory Symbols	35	(3)
The Importance of Symbols	38	(9)
The Nature of Magic & The Magic of Nature	47	(40)
Sympathetic Magic	48	(6)
Magic and Science	54	(33)
Infectious Ideas	87	(32)
Ideas and Self-Replication	87	(4)
Urban Legends	91	(4)
The Psychological Satisfaction of Ideas	95	(7)
Ideas and Induced Replication	102	(11)
Origins of Myth	113	(2)
Origins of Science	115	(4)
The Function of Science and Mythology	119	(38)
The Function of Mythology	119	(2)
The Function of Science	121	(6)
The Religion of Science	127	(15)
Campbell's Creative Mythology	142	(15)
Truth and Illusion	157	(38)
Scientific Epistemology	162	(20)
Mythological Epistemology	182	(13)
Islands of Thought	195	(33)
Erwin Schrodinger & James Frazer	228	(2)
The Story of Rapa Nui	230