This is the riddle that drove hofstadter to write this extraordinary book. Godel escher bach eternal golden braid by hofstadter douglas. Amazon price new from used from hardcover please retry. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Douglas hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nature of maps or links between formal systems. Escher, and composer johann sebastian bach, the book expounds concepts fundamental to mathematics, symmetry, and intelligence. Douglas richard hofstadter is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research focuses on consciousness, thinking and creativity.
Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of bach, the artwork of escher, and. An eternal golden braid, also known as geb, is a 1979 book by douglas hofstadter. What is a self, and how can a self come out of inaminate matter. Hofstadter douglas hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nature of maps or links between formal systems. Godel, escher, bach geb debates the question of consciousness and the possibility of artificial intelligence. It won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a national book award at that time called the american book award for science. An eternal golden braid by hofstadter, douglas and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Sir roger penrose, aeons before the big bang copernicus center lecture 2010 duration. Dec 02, 2012 sir roger penrose, aeons before the big bang copernicus center lecture 2010 duration. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. That question has hounded me ever since i was scribbling its first drafts in pen, way back in 1973. Each chapter is separated from the next by a short fictional piece in the style of lewis carroll, which exemplifies the theme of the following chapter. However, it seems to me that those ideas are all tied on a single question.
Sometimes it seems as though each new step towards ai, rather than producing something which everyone agrees is real intelligence, merely reveals what real intelligence is not douglas r. Hofstadter is college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and. Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, douglas r. The first edition of the novel was published in 1979, and was written by douglas r. An eternal golden braid korean paperback 1979 by douglas r. An eternal golden braid is still something of a marvel. It is a book that attempts to discover what self really means. Every few decades an unknown author brings out a book of such depth, clarity, range, wit, beauty and originality that it is recognized at once as a major literary event. An eternal golden braid it is extremely interesting, then, to think about the meaning of the word form as it applies to constructions of arbitrarily complex shapes.
It is also central to two classics of cognitive science. In his title professor hofstadter yokes together godel, johann sebastian bach and the dutch artist maurits corpelis escher, and a substantial part of his book is dedicated to showing that this is not such an unlikely team of oxen. An eternal golden braid 20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author 20anniversary ed by hofstadter, douglas r isbn. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 822 pages and is available in paperback format. Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, douglas r hofstadters godel, escher, bach. Mar 30, 2000 twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, douglas r hofstadters godel, escher, bach. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of bach, the artwork of escher, and the.
Nov 22, 20 godel escher and bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of bach, the artwork of escher, and the mathematics of godel. By exploring common themes in the lives and works of logician kurt godel, artist m. Godel, escher, bach is easily my favourite book, and has been for the thirtyodd years since i first read it. Douglas hofstadter s book is concerned directly with the nature of maps or links between formal systems. He exemplifies this by providing examples of loops in backs music, escher s sketches, and godels theorems. Douglas hofstadter combines and links the various themes associated with the characters in the title and some others in fascinating and imaginative ways. Godel, escher, back contains many ideas in different areas. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 822 pages and is. It is a philosophy book that reads like music, a work of art that many consider second to none. To settle a dispute between townspeople over religion, the zen master had 4 blind men and an elephant led in.
Copernicus center for interdisciplinary studies 260,730 views. An eternal golden braid pdf is still a miracle today, although it has been on the bestseller list for more than 20 years. An eternal golden braid, it was a rambling 777page magnum opus crowded with dense diagrams about feedback loops, witty parables about knowledge, and intellectual puns. Hofstadter and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. For hofstadter, consciousness emerge as what he calls a strange loop. Analogy as the fuel and fire of thinking douglas hofstadter. Winner of the pulitzer prizea metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of lewis. An eternal golden braid book online at best prices in india on.
Martin gardner, scientific american in some ways, godel, escher, bach is an entire. An eternal golden braid by douglas hofstadter is an intricate and complex study of strange loops, metaconcepts in general and their connection to selfawareness and intelligence. Godel escher bach by hofstadter, first edition abebooks. The emperors new mind by roger penrose and godel, escher, bach. An eternal golden braid, first published in 1979, won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a national book award at that time called the american book award for science. His works are then fed through a machine learning process created by computational artist parag k mital, which uses the data in bachs writing to compose a piece of. Hofstadter is college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science at indiana university, bloomington, where he also directs the center for. Jan, 2016 while godels theorem is highly abstract, it has important implications for such questions as, is the brain a computer. See all 7 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. As i work my way through this dense book, i am reminded of the zen tale of 4 blind men and an elephant.