Philosopher, systems scientist, author, co-author, or editor of 106 books (translated into a total of 25 languages), including Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything.
Dr. Ervin Laszlo
“John Spencer’s Eternal Law is the best exposition I have ever read of the genuine foundations of contemporary science in timeless philosophy. Should be read by every philosopher, and person interested in science and in philosophy, who questions the reality and the wholeness of the world investigated by contemporary science.”
⇒ ErvinLaszloBooks.com
⇒ ClubOfBudapest.com
⇒ The Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research
Prof. Sir Roger Penrose (OM FRS)
Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford (Emeritus), 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, author of The Road to Reality
“I found John Spencer’s “The Eternal Law” to be enormously refreshing; for here we have someone willing to speak out forcefully in favour of Platonic ideals lying at the roots of modern science.”
Dr. Stephen M. Barr
Professor of Particle Physics, University of Delaware (Emeritus), author of Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
“This book gives a spirited defence of the continuing importance of Platonic philosophy. The author shows how Pythagorean and Platonic ideas influenced the thinking of the creators of modern science, from Kepler in the seventeenth century to the founders of quantum mechanics in the twentieth.”
Dr. Lothar Schäfer
Formerly Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, author of Infinite Potential: What Quantum Physics Reveals About How We Should Live
“The new physics has revealed a congruence of the mental and the physical and of the spiritual and the rational, which is so difficult to accept that it amounts to a metamorphosis of our consciousness. In this process John Spencer’s book is a much needed guide that explains challenging concepts of physics and philosophy in a competent, inspired and easily understandable way. “The Eternal Law” will be of immense value to teachers in both the sciences and the humanities, and to everybody who wants to live with an enlightened understanding of the world.”
Dr. John Dillon
Regius Professor of Greek, Trinity College Dublin (Emeritus), author of The Middle Platonists: 80 B.C. to A.D. 220
“This is an exciting and thought-provoking book from a young scholar whose base is in the philosophical foundations of quantum physics, but who has gone on as well to master the whole philosophical tradition, particularly that of Platonism, to bring us a wide-ranging study of the parameters of reality. All of us can learn from it.”
Dr. Brian Les Lancaster
Former Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University (Emeritus), Alef Trust Founding Director, author of Approaches to Consciousness: the Marriage of Science and Mysticism
“Spencer takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the terrain where quantum physics, mysticism and philosophy meet. Profound challenges are addressed in highly accessible ways, and Spencer guides the reader through the complexities of his topic with remarkable clarity. This is a work for the interested general reader who wants to understand how ancient philosophical ideas resonate with the latest discoveries in science. Spencer’s vision enlivens the human quest to find meaning and purpose in our world. A highly accessible, informative and profoundly stimulating book.”
Dr. Kathryn Hopkins
PhD, Biology
“I can honestly say “I love this book”. It appealed to both the scientist and the philosopher in me, and should be compulsory reading for anyone who thinks they know anything.”
Dr. John C. Taylor
Professor of Mathematical Physics, Cambridge University (Emeritus), author of Hidden Unity in Nature’s Laws
“You need not agree with everything Spencer says in order to benefit from this readable, lively and thought-provoking book.”
Dr. Elio Frattaroli
Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, author of Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain: Becoming Conscious in an Unconscious World
“John Spencer discusses complex problems with an engaging, easy-to-read clarity that has significantly improved the clarity of my own thinking, about philosophy generally and about philosophy of science in particular. Spencer’s incisive metaphysical reasoning has also illuminated for me why I always feel gaslighted in exactly the same way by the seemingly antithetical agendas of positivist materialism and postmodern relativism. Spencer shows how the expositors of these wildly incompatible ways of thinking have all drunk the same philosophical Kool-Aid—called “anti-realism”. So it must be their anti-realism that makes me feel crazy because in reality–as Spencer demonstrates—anti-realism is logically incoherent in a way that does violence to the human spirit. Spencer’s prescription for this cultural illness? Unembarrassed rigorous metaphysical thinking. Sounds difficult, but the way Spencer does it, metaphysical thinking has the refreshing clarity of common sense (and elucidates the philosophical foundations and implications of quantum physics too!).”
Tim Addey
Chairman of the Prometheus Trust, author of The Seven Myths of the Soul
“The poison of anti-realism has been dripped into the ear of modern humanity for too long, bringing with it a curious fever of body and lethargy of mind: ‘The Eternal Law’ is an antidote of the finest potency. The author exposes the fatal contradiction at the heart of anti-realism with such ruthless clarity that I strongly suspect anyone trying to defend it after this will only succeed in further demonstrating its absurdity.”
Dr. Pierre Grimes
Professor of Philosophy, Golden West College (retired), Korean Buddhist Dharma Successor, co-author of Philosophical Midwifery: A New Paradigm for Understanding Human Problems With Its Validation
“Reading his work is, at first, like listening-in on conversations with the major thinkers of philosophy and Quantum physics discussing the significance of this new and dramatic turn in science and then coming to realize that you are being lead to the surprising realization that, indeed, every recourse to systems of philosophy rather than the Platonic system will lack the scope and precision necessary to understand the depth of this profound Quantum turn in science.”
Dr. John E. MacKinnon
Department of Philosophy, Saint Mary’s University
“John Spencer’s THE ETERNAL LAW offers a spirited challenge to the claims and widespread influence of anti-realism, insisting on key connections between modern physics and ancient philosophy, particularly Platonism, while reminding us that the theoretical and metaphysical foundations of physics have always aimed at unity, simplicity and beauty. Accessible to non-specialists, this richly interdisciplinary book remains highly relevant to philosophers, classicists, physicists, and historians of science.”
Dr. Mario Beauregard
Formerly at the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Research Center, Université de Montréal, author of Brain Wars
“An important contribution to the philosophical and scientific exploration of the concept of reality.”
Dr. Nicholas P. Blanchard
Research Engineer, Institut Lumière Matière (UCBL-CNRS), Université de Lyon
“The Eternal Law is comprehensible to a general reader who is not well read in philosophy or in the subtle nuances of cutting edge theoretical physics. As an experimental scientist, I found it to be a real eye-opener regarding the misunderstandings and misinterpretations of modern physics that persist among various academic disciplines.”
Dr. Stephen D Snobelen
History of Science and Technology Programme, University of King’s College, co-editor Special issue: John Wallis at 400: Science, mathematics, and religion in seventeenth-century England
“This robust defence of ancient thought, objective truth and metaphysical realism also provides along the way a most valuable education in philosophy, philosophy of science and the history of science. Whether or not they agree with the author’s conclusions, specialists and non-specialists alike will be rewarded by engaging with this important and wonderfully interdisciplinary book.”
Dr. James W. Brown
Professor of French Studies, Dalhousie University (retired), co-editor of Silence of the Sea / Le Silence de la Mer, author of Sensing’, ‘Seeing’, ‘Saying’ in Camus’ “Noces”: A Meditative Essay
“Whatever else The Eternal Law may bring to readers, it will make them think, ponder and contemplate the source of gnosis. Spencer’s book is situated at the intersection of science, ancient philosophy and spirituality. It serves as an introduction to these three domains as well as a discourse on them. Spencer conjoins Platonism and Neo-Platonism with quantum physics in order to demonstrate that many of the great scientific luminaries throughout history and up through Einstein, Bohr, Gödel, Heisenberg, Schrodinger and others were deeply indebted to Plato’s One Truth as the explanatory hierarchy underlying all being. Spencer has a remarkable command of three vast disciplines which he delivers to the reader with stunning clarity. His numerous examples are at once elegantly simple and informative, often humorous. The gentle jibes at contemporary analytical philosophers double as a critique of philosophy as it is practiced and taught today. His analysis of the realism/anti-realism debate is thorough and subtle. Of lesser, but nonetheless significant importance, I could mention his overview of Western philosophy in general along with interdisciplinary connections to arts, literature and Eastern thought. We hear echoes of these interconnections in the recent voices of Krishnamurti, the teacher/philosopher, and David Bohm, the physicist. As a linguist, I should note a very important attribute of Spencer’s work. The language of his text is formidable: He does not banter words about but reduces them to their very semes thus avoiding ambiguity surrounding definitions, terms, laws and theories…Spencer’s book inspires us to extend the boundaries, or rather to go beyond the frontiers of our current knowledge in an effort to ameliorate the human condition. For this alone, he is to be lauded and thanked. I am grateful for this journey he has taken me on and I encourage readers to follow the same path.”
The following evaluations were based on John’s original PhD thesis, which has formed the theoretical basis for The Eternal Law.
Professor Stephen R. L. Clark
Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool (Emeritus), author of Can We Believe in People?: Human Significance in an Interconnected Cosmos
“Essential reading for anyone engaged with modern science or late antique philosophy – and also anyone who wishes a better personal understanding of reality.”
Dr. Dominic Dickson
Department of Physics, University of Liverpool (retired), co-author of Why aren’t secondary students interested in physics?
“Reading this work helped me to understand physics better.”
Professor Christopher Norris
Cardiff School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University (Emeritus), author of Quantum Theory and the Flight From Realism: Philosophical Responses to Quantum Mechanics
“Highly distinctive…original…intellectually committed…should do much to shake and dislodge these complacently orthodox habits of mind [in academic philosophy].”
Dr. Peter Rowlands
Department of Physics, University of Liverpool (retired), author of Zero to Infinity: The Foundations of Physics
“Will be of direct interest to scientists who want to engage with fundamental issues, as well as to philosophers…original and incisive, and notable for its clear presentation of difficult issues.”
Dr. David Leech
Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion, University of Bristol, author of The Hammer of the Cartesians: Henry More’s Philosophy of Spirit and the Origins of Modern Atheism
“Highly provocative…original…sure to stir up very lively debate.”