title: Physics in Mind: A Quantum View of the Brain
author: Werner Loewenstein
description: *Starred Review* Was Leibniz wrong? The German philosopher once declared that science would never explain the human mind. His assertion hangs in the balance when Loewenstein illuminates the enigma of thought. Defying the usual disciplinary boundaries, Loewenstein deploys a Darwinian physics (replacing the daunting mathematics with clear bioneurological narrative, laced with sprightly humor) to explain how the cosmic volley of information arrows loosed by the Big Bang set the course for evolution. Readers will marvel at the electrochemical cunning of the chlorophylls and carotenes, cellular proteins and ion-selective membranes, that convert quantum signals carried by photons and electrons into life codes governing all multicellular organisms, all while satisfying the inflexible demands of thermodynamics. Astonishment swells again as readers contemplate the time structure of macromolecules, shaping the brains neuron trellis into a parallel quantum biocomputer. That biocomputer has given one peculiar species a minds-eye capacity for surveying the world as a whole and for anticipating future events in that world. It may disappoint some readers that, having come so far in explaining mental functions, Loewenstein finally balks before the mystery of mysteriesconsciousness itself. Somewhere the shade of Leibniz breathes a sigh of relief. But Loewenstein will be back. And readers will be eager to join him. --Bryce Christensen
zlib_text: 
  
  
  ![e9783110350746_cover.jpg](e9783110350746_cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Table of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Philosophische Analyse / Philosophical Analysis](e9783110350746_fm01.html)  
  
  
  [Title Page](e9783110350746_tp01.html)  
  
  
  [Copyright Page](e9783110350746_cop01.html)  
  
  
  [Dedication](e9783110350746_ded01.html)  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Preface](e9783110350746_fm02.html)  
  
  
  [Part I: Quantum Physics and the Mind](e9783110350746_p01.html)  
  
  
  [Quantum Physics and Philosophy of Mind](e9783110350746_c01.html)  
  
  
  [1 Introduction](e9783110350746_c01.html#title5)  
  
  
  [2 The original “Copenhagen” version of quantum
  mechanics](e9783110350746_c01.html#title6)  
  
  
  [3 John von Neumann’s orthodox version of quantum
  mechanics](e9783110350746_c01.html#title7)  
  
  
  [4 The causal effectiveness of our minds](e9783110350746_c01.html#title8)  
  
  
  [5 The essential point](e9783110350746_c01.html#title9)  
  
  
  [6 Impact on philosophy of mind](e9783110350746_c01.html#title10)  
  
  
  [7 Appearances are deceiving](e9783110350746_c01.html#t