L.'s review
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
L.'s review
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
L.'s review
rating:
bookshelves:
non-fiction-and-philo
recommended for: geeks and perpetual students
This is perhaps the best-written book I have ever read. It swings from baroque fugues to programming languages to number theory to Zen Buddhism to artificial intelligence, and doesn't leave you behind. He uses a good deal of graphic illustrations in his discussions, which are pretty welcome in some of the heavier topics. Before each chapter, Hofstadter introduces the new ideas in a distilled version through his own fable-style scenes. He clearly took the time to make it enjoyable for the reader, giving little details that you might not notice, but when you do, you appreciate them. Educational, entertaining and enticing. I love this book.
Some quotations:
"But finally, I realized that to me, Godel, Escher and Bach were only shadows cast in different directions by some central solid essence."
"Perhaps they are circuits in which signals travel round and round in shapes stranger than the dash of a gnat-hungry swallow."
"This idea that there is generalit...more
Some quotations:
"But finally, I realized that to me, Godel, Escher and Bach were only shadows cast in different directions by some central solid essence."
"Perhaps they are circuits in which signals travel round and round in shapes stranger than the dash of a gnat-hungry swallow."
"This idea that there is generalit...more
