Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter

The more obvious level, that of content, presents each idea directly, by providing the views of the merry band - sometimes right, often wrong, and always funny. Concepts are presented by the dialogues on two different levels, simultaneously: form and content. In writing those dialogues, Hofstadter created a whole new form of art. The topics presented range from mathematics and meta-mathematics to programming, recursion (in math as well as in computing), formal systems, multilevel systems, self reference, self representation, and others.īefore each of GEB’s twenty chapters, Hofstadter includes a dialogue, in which Achilles, the Tortoise, and their company discuss various aspects that will later be examined by the author in the chapter to follow.

Bach are discussed, in addition to other works of art and music. Introducing the reader to cognitive science, Gödel, Escher, Bach draws heavily from art to illustrate fine points in mathematics. It is a book that attempts to discover what “self” really means. Gödel, Escher, Bach ( GEB) debates the question of consciousness and the possibility of artificial intelligence. It is a philosophy book that reads like music, a work of art that many consider second to none. Hofstadter’s literary marvel is the exception. However, this normally does not refer to nonfiction books, especially scientific ones. (For a review of the what’s new in the “20th Anniversary Edition”, click here.) Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid / Douglas R.

Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter