Fritjof Capra, a physicist and systems theorist, presents his new book *The Web of Life* in this lecture. He traces the evolution of systems thinking from the 1920s to the present, highlighting key concepts such as chaos, attractors, fractals, dissipative structures, and self-organization. Capra discusses the emergence of systems thinking in organismic biology, gestalt psychology, and ecology, emphasizing the shift from viewing living systems as mere sums of their parts to recognizing their integrated wholeness and complex relationships. He outlines the development of classical systems theories in the 1940s, including general systems theory and cybernetics, which introduced the concepts of open systems, feedback, and self-organization. Capra then introduces the new mathematics of complexity, which allows scientists to mathematically handle the complexity of living systems through nonlinear equations and visual patterns. Capra proposes a synthesis of pattern, structure, and process as the three dimensions of a comprehensive theory of living systems. He defines these as: 1. **Pattern of Organization**: The configuration of relationships among system components that determines essential characteristics. 2. **Structure**: The physical embodiment of the system's pattern, involving its actual components. 3. **Process**: The activity involved in embodying the system's pattern, such as growth, development, and evolution. He concludes by discussing the implications of this synthesis for understanding life, including the concept of autopoiesis (self-making) and the Santiago theory of cognition, which identifies cognition with the process of life. This theory overcomes the Cartesian split between mind and matter, suggesting that mind and matter are complementary aspects of life.Fritjof Capra, a physicist and systems theorist, presents his new book *The Web of Life* in this lecture. He traces the evolution of systems thinking from the 1920s to the present, highlighting key concepts such as chaos, attractors, fractals, dissipative structures, and self-organization. Capra discusses the emergence of systems thinking in organismic biology, gestalt psychology, and ecology, emphasizing the shift from viewing living systems as mere sums of their parts to recognizing their integrated wholeness and complex relationships. He outlines the development of classical systems theories in the 1940s, including general systems theory and cybernetics, which introduced the concepts of open systems, feedback, and self-organization. Capra then introduces the new mathematics of complexity, which allows scientists to mathematically handle the complexity of living systems through nonlinear equations and visual patterns. Capra proposes a synthesis of pattern, structure, and process as the three dimensions of a comprehensive theory of living systems. He defines these as: 1. **Pattern of Organization**: The configuration of relationships among system components that determines essential characteristics. 2. **Structure**: The physical embodiment of the system's pattern, involving its actual components. 3. **Process**: The activity involved in embodying the system's pattern, such as growth, development, and evolution. He concludes by discussing the implications of this synthesis for understanding life, including the concept of autopoiesis (self-making) and the Santiago theory of cognition, which identifies cognition with the process of life. This theory overcomes the Cartesian split between mind and matter, suggesting that mind and matter are complementary aspects of life.