Synopses & Reviews
Hofstadters collection of quirky essays is unified by its primary concern: to examine the way people perceive and think.
Review
"Subtitled 'Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern' and further described as an 'Interlocked Collection of Literary, Scientific and Artistic Studies,' this volume collects the author's Scientific American columns and seven other pieces, all of which focus on the problem of perception and thought, especially analogical. A subsidiary concern is the apathy with which humanity regards its own flirtation with suicide. Throughout he argues that the models provided by science and its subjacent metaphors not only explain the world but direct us toward saner courses of action. The conclusion may be naively optimistic, but the process through which Hoftstadter reaches it is fascinating in and for itself." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
About the Author
Douglas R. Hofstadter directs the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition at Indiana University, and is the College of Arts and Sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science. He is the author of several highly regarded books, including Gödel, Escher, Bach and Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies.