Through illustration and analysis, the book discusses how selfreference and. Jan, 2016 ultimately, godel, escher, bach is a book that fundamentally changed the way i look not just at brains and computers, but, well everything. So youre going to be attempting a feat here, not to complete the entire book but to get the essence of godel, escher, bach out. Sir roger penrose, aeons before the big bang copernicus center lecture 2010 duration. 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. The implications of recursion and godels theorem are so broad that you will come away from this book never seeing the world the same way again. This month we read godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter.
Below are links to the videos, along with breakdowns of the video content. Godel, escher and bach, written by douglas hofstadter, while the title would suggest it is discussion of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer, is a complex examination of how human beings develop perception and meaning. Martin gardner, scientific american in some ways, godel, escher, bach is an entire humanistic education between the covers of a single book. Intelligence, art, music, and life are a strange loop. Godel, escher, bach guide books acm digital library. Godel escher bach by hofstadter, first edition abebooks. Godel escher bach is one of the most complex books neil and i have ever read. So, for my next visit to a desert island, give me sun. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Douglas hofstadter, justifiably famous for godel, escher, bach wrote about the much trickier subject of mind and personal identity in this 2004 book.
It would amount to a complex translation of the book from a visual form to an audible form. I tried to construct the central object, and came up with this book. I have been searching everywhere for an ebook or pdf of godel escher bach. Winner of the pulitzer prizea metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of lewis. 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. Dec 28, 2017 this is the wrapup video for the six month of the book club. A very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter. Godel, escher, bach was recorded for opencourseware. An eternal golden braid, also known as geb, is a 1979 book by douglas hofstadter. 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.
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 book online at best prices in india on. Godel,escher,bachan enternal golden braid by douglas r. The bach still stands on its own, but the fact that the book can only talk about it and the reader is still on their own in so far as experiencing the music goes, and an appreciation for bach is. It will have you thinking about minds, intelligence, ai, and reality in an entirely new way. Full text of godel, escher, bach an eternal golden. Martin gardner, scientific american in some ways, godel, escher, bach is an entire. Godel, escher, bach book club, december 2017 youtube. Copernicus center for interdisciplinary studies 260,730 views. Hofstadters godel, escher, bach 20th anniversary edition. Winner of the pulitzer prize, this book applies godels seminal contribution to modern mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on. I bought this book because i absolutely loved the senior authors book, godel, escher and bach, and suspected that this word book would not be for me, but was willing to give it a try. Douglas hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nat.
I have found two different pdf versions and both have many typos which make understanding certain chapters impossible. But finally i realized that to me, godel and escher and bach were only shadows cast in different directions by some central solid essence. There has been nothing like it in computer science before or. Godel, escher, bach won the 1980 pulitzer prize for. Douglas hofstadters book is concerned directly with the. Hofstadter and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Can you explain with any more detail, what the course is about. In some ways, godel, escher, bach is an entire humanistic education between the covers of a single book. I felt a twinge of guiltinadequacy that i didnt have the smarties or persistence to work my way through the entire book, so its nice to see im in good company. Lecture 1 video video lectures godel, escher, bach. I felt a twinge of guiltinadequacy that i didnt have the smarties or persistence to work my way through the entire book, so its nice to see im in good. Escher, in particular how their work in music, math and art manages to loop back on itself and express a kind of selfreferentiality. The book godel, escher, bach geb is an imaginative exploration of the nature of consciousness, as seen through the metaphorical lenses of mathematician kurt godels selfreferential logic, artist m. This month we read godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter this is a fantastically weird and wonderful book. Dec 02, 2012 sir roger penrose, aeons before the big bang copernicus center lecture 2010 duration. The book attempts to put forward the outline of a theory of intelligence, by drawing from an incredibly wide array of disciplines not just the three mathematics, art and music, which are implied by the title but also logical systems, computer science, genetics there are really.
Inspired by the book godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter, ive made this 57minute electronic recording of arpeggios, using the notes. 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. An eternal golden braid by hofstadter, douglas and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. During the summer of 2007, godel, escher, bach was recorded especially for opencourseware. Godel and escher and bach were only shadows cast in different directions by some central solid essence. Douglas hofstadter combines and links the various themes associated with the. Music from godel, escher, bach scott kim may 28, 2017 the book godel, escher, bach geb is an imaginative exploration of the nature of consciousness, as seen through the metaphorical lenses of mathematician kurt godels selfreferential logic, artist m.
I think that would be an interesting but difficult project one that i suspect would appeal to hofstadter himself. This is the wrapup video for the six month of the book club. An eternal golden braid 20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author 20anniversary ed by hofstadter, douglas r isbn. Hes returned to the book to try and explain what the book is really aboutusing a new foreword. Full text of godel, escher, bach an eternal golden braid. Jul 20, 2012 there are many ways to read geb including attempting to divine the authors own subsequently stated intent. Douglas hofstadter, author of godel, escher, bach, has not had such a vaired experience with the antiscience movement as bateson bateson, gregory, mind and naturea necessary unity. Everybodys favorite is the concept of entropy, a measure of disorder in thermodynamics. Godel, escher, bach an eternal golden braid douglas r.
In many respects, the audiobook might find the roles of escher and bach reversed, with bach s music playing the same role that escher s pictures do in the book, providing a counterpoint to the text, while escher s pictures have to be referenced through descriptions, as bach is in the text. Godel, escher, bach ein endloses geflochtenes band douglas. But i want to make sure we introduce everybody, just to get peoples names. A very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come. 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. Mar 09, 2019 bach, escher and godels strange loops may have the answer in 1979, a cult book by douglas hofstadter explored consciousness via a mathematical idea found in art and music. Jan 05, 2014 the bach still stands on its own, but the fact that the book can only talk about it and the reader is still on their own in so far as experiencing the music goes, and an appreciation for bach is both the part of the book that took the longest to develop and the part which has stuck with me the longest. Godel escher bach is a book which was written by douglas hofstadter in 1979. Godel, escher and bach, written by douglas hofstadter, while the title would suggest it is discussion of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer, is a complex examination of how human.
Why isnt the douglas hofstadter book godel, escher, bach available as an audiobook yet. An eternal golden braid is still something of a marvel. At one level, the book is about a parallel between three people. Winner of the pulitzer prize, this book applies godels seminal contribution to modern.
Godel, escher, bach, an eternal golden braid by douglas r. As robert gillespie points out, one of the three strands of the book is bachs music, which could be referenced more explicitly in an audio version. Shepard arpeggios godel, escher, bach version youtube. It won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a national book award at that time called the. Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, douglas r. Godel, escher, bach 20th anniversary edition slashdot. It won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a national book award at that time called the american book award for science. Escher, and composer johann sebastian bach, the book expounds concepts fundamental to mathematics, symmetry, and intelligence. Surfaces and essences audiobook by douglas hofstadter. Why isnt the douglas hofstadter book godel, escher, bach. Douglas richard hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is an american professor of cognitive science whose research focuses on the sense of i, consciousness, analogymaking, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics. It weaves together insights from music, art, mathematics, ant colonies, lewis carroll stories, and more unexpected places into a new understanding of how our minds work and. And it will alsoi also want you to say, what is it when you read the course catalog that interested you. Geb is a truly great book because it explains in an intuitive and understandable way one of, if not the, deepest and most important results of the modern.
There are many ways to read geb including attempting to divine the authors own subsequently stated intent. Mniestris a and floros a educational audio game design proceedings of the 9th audio. By exploring common themes in the lives and works of logician kurt godel, artist m. Ernest davis, ieee expert a wondrous book that unites and explains, in a very entertaining way, many of the important ideas of recent intellectual history. I have found two different pdf versions and both have many typos which make understanding certain. Douglas hofstadter is teacher of software engineering and psychological science at indiana university. There has been nothing like it in computer science before or since. Hofstadter is the son of nobel prizewinning douglas richard hofstadter is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research. It won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a. Sep 21, 2011 godel, escher, bach is easily my favourite book, and has been for the thirtyodd years since i first read it. 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, bach is easily my favourite book, and has been for the thirtyodd years since i first read it. Godel, escher, bach is really something unique and special.
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