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This groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning book sets the standard for interdisciplinary writing, exploring the patterns and symbols in the thinking of mathematician Kurt Godel, artist M.C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
Review:
"[A] major literary event." Scientific American
Synopsis:
First published in 1979, this is a genuine interdisciplinary work of nonfiction, with dozens of historical references and subtexts. Critics and reviewers have summed up its meaning in varying ways, yet consistently with praise. A mixture of art, philosophy, music, math, technology, and cognitive science, the book's title only reflects one aspect of its subject matter; namely, the connection between the work of mathematician Kurt Gödel, the artist M. C. Escher, and the composer J. S. Bach. In the preface to the 20th-anniversary edition, the author calls his book "a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter." A 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner.
Synopsis:
Douglas Hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel Escher and Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.
Roger Sarao, September 24, 2006 (view all comments by Roger Sarao)
A profound achievement in literature. There is no concise way to summarize the content of this interdisciplinary work by (then) first-time author Douglas Hofstadter. Curious reader who may feel intimidated by the complexity of this Pulitzer Prize-winning (non-fiction, 1980) book should put aside such thoughts and jump headfirst into Chapter 1. One immediately begins to see a dizzying -- yet easy to follow -- "interconnectedness" of disparate disciplines such as mathematics, music and linguistics. Thought-provoking and deeply satisfying, "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" is destined to remain a classic work on man's pursuit and understanding of knowledge.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (28 of 43 readers found this comment helpful)
"Review"
by Scientific American,
"[A] major literary event."
"Synopsis"
by Employee@Powells,
First published in 1979, this is a genuine interdisciplinary work of nonfiction, with dozens of historical references and subtexts. Critics and reviewers have summed up its meaning in varying ways, yet consistently with praise. A mixture of art, philosophy, music, math, technology, and cognitive science, the book's title only reflects one aspect of its subject matter; namely, the connection between the work of mathematician Kurt Gödel, the artist M. C. Escher, and the composer J. S. Bach. In the preface to the 20th-anniversary edition, the author calls his book "a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter." A 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
Douglas Hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel Escher and Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.
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