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Interviews | January 3, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Naomi Benaron: The Powells.com Interview

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Naomi BenaronRunning the Rift is the most recent winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, as awarded by Barbara Kingsolver. It's also an... Continue »
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Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

by Douglas Hofstadter

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Cover

ISBN13: 9780465026562
ISBN10: 0465026567
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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First published in 1979, this is a genuine interdisciplinary work of nonfiction, with dozens of historical references and subtexts.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.
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About the Author

Hofstadter ia a College Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780465026562
Author:
Hofstadter, Douglas
Publisher:
Basic Books
Author:
Hofstadter, Douglas R.
Location:
New York :
Subject:
General
Subject:
Bach, johann sebastian, 1685-1750
Subject:
Artificial Intelligence
Subject:
Symmetry
Subject:
Metamathematics
Subject:
Escher, m. c. (maurits cornelis), 1898-1970
Subject:
General Philosophy
Subject:
Philosophy : General
Copyright:
1979
Edition Number:
20
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Series Volume:
al-juz® 9
Publication Date:
19990231
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
832
Dimensions:
9.25 x 6.5 in 36.5 oz
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Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid New Trade Paper
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Product details 832 pages Basic Books - English 9780465026562 Reviews:
"Review" by , "[A] major literary event."
"Synopsis" by , 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 ,
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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