Gdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

ISBN: 0465026567

Author: Hofstadter, Douglas R

Condition: New

Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeA metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis CarrollEvery few decades an unknown author brings out a book of such depth, charity, range, wit, beauty, and originality that it is recognized at once as a major literary event. This is such a work. -Scientific AmericanGEB is a unique insight into the nature of I, self, soul, and consciousness, centered on a notion that its youthful author dubbed strange loop, inspired by the twisty self-referential construction invented by logician Kurt Gdel, whereby a sentence asserts its own unprovability. The books chapters alternate with Bach-like contrapuntal dialogues between whimsical characters (especially Achilles and the Tortoise), and each dialogues intricate structure exemplifies the notion being discussed in it, thus creating indirect self-reference (a fact unsuspected by the characters). The book, filled with analogies, wordplay, humor, and mind-twisting prints by M. C. Escher, has inspired generations of bright students to study cognitive science and the philosophy of mind.