Another interesting citation from Peter Woit, 2006, Not Even Wrong, The failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law (chapter String Theory, p. 143):
The S-matrix program continued to be pursued by Chew and others into the 1970s. Just as the political left in Berkley fell apart, with many turning to Eastern and New Age religions, followers of the S-matrix also stopped talking about democracy, and some began to look to the East. The physicist Fritjof Capra received a PhD in 1966, working with Walter Thirring in Vienna, but the early 1970s had turned to Eastern religion, finding there deep connections to S-matrix theory. His book The Tao of Physics was first published in 1975. It extensively contrasts Western notation of symmetry with what he sees as Eastern ideas about the dynamic interrelationship of all things.
I should say that the book Not Even Wrong is quite interesting. It is a good compliment to The Elegant Universe, as it looks at the superstring theory from a completely different viewpoint. Peter Woit has done a good job.