Godel, Escher, Bach - D. Hofstadter

Hofstadter is primarily (or was primarily) a researcher in artificial intelligence (he's gone on to do psychology, anthropology and much translating work). He has written a number of books and this was, I believe, his first and is, of the ones I've read, his best. The basic topic of the book is that of consciousness, what defines a consciousness and at what point does a system become conscious? Taking as his first premise Godel's theory of incompleteness Hofstadter proceeds to lead us through a host of complex concepts and ideas working towards his arguments climax. Kurt Godel was a mathematician concerned with logic and logical systems in the 1950's (I ...  Read the complete review

I make no pretence that this is not a difficult book. There are over 700 pages here examining such diverse and complex subjects as symbolic mathematics and metaphysics, in an effort to understand what stage the field of artificial intelligence has reached. However, it is well worth a read. The Pulitzer Prize winning book recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and has been reprinted with a new preface by the author commenting on how his thoughts on the subject have changed since the book was first published. Throughout the book, each chapter is introduced by a section of dialogue based on the whimsical writings of Lewis Carroll. These dialogues ...  Read the complete review

If computers are more than a tool to you, then you should enjoy this book. You may not understand it all (I didn't!) even though it is not at all academic in style. One of the central themes is that the mind is vastly more complex than, for instance, AI (Artificial Intelligence) researchers generally credit, and yet still amenable to imaginative and rational investigation. The book links the patterns found in the music of Bach, the often paradoxical art of Escher and the maths of Godel - specifically his Incompleteness theorem. It may sound heavy, but its simply a series of fascinating analogies, puzzles and novel insights. ...  Read the complete review