Douglas Hofstadter
Basic Books, New York, 1985, English
Nonfiction, General
ISBN: 9780465045662

A collection of essays by Douglas Hofstadter’s Scientific American column "Metamagical Themas" from 1981 to 1983. Tackling every issue in science from evolutionary theory to artificial intelligence, the human brain and rational choice, mathematics and quantum physics, Hofstandter brilliantly makes connections throughout all areas with a razor-sharp wit and charm.

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Cino Zucchi

An artificial intelligence genius, best known for his Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (1979), Hofstadter is able to create connections among areas belonging to the most diverse regions of human experience. His plea to carry to the limit small deviations from well-known patterns to reach new insights (in the essay in Metamagical Themas called “Variations on a Theme as the Crux of Creativity”) could be taken as a manifesto for reuniting knowledge and discovery, culture and experimentation.

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