Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
English | 1981 | ISBN: 0140055797 | 777 pages | PDF | 22 Mb
English | 1981 | ISBN: 0140055797 | 777 pages | PDF | 22 Mb
A Musico-Logical Offering. The book opens with the story of Bach's Musical
Offering. Bach made an impromptu visit to King Frederick the Great of Prussia, and was
requested to improvise upon a theme presented by the King. His improvisations formed the basis
of that great work. The Musical Offering and its story form a theme upon which I "improvise"
throughout the book, thus making a sort of "Metamusical Offering". Self-reference and the
interplay between different levels in Bach are discussed: this leads to a discussion of parallel
ideas in Escher's drawings and then Gödel’s Theorem. A brief presentation of the history of logic
and paradoxes is given as background for Gödel’s Theorem. This leads to mechanical reasoning
and computers, and the debate about whether Artificial Intelligence is possible. I close with an
explanation of the origins of the book-particularly the why and wherefore of the Dialogues.
Offering. Bach made an impromptu visit to King Frederick the Great of Prussia, and was
requested to improvise upon a theme presented by the King. His improvisations formed the basis
of that great work. The Musical Offering and its story form a theme upon which I "improvise"
throughout the book, thus making a sort of "Metamusical Offering". Self-reference and the
interplay between different levels in Bach are discussed: this leads to a discussion of parallel
ideas in Escher's drawings and then Gödel’s Theorem. A brief presentation of the history of logic
and paradoxes is given as background for Gödel’s Theorem. This leads to mechanical reasoning
and computers, and the debate about whether Artificial Intelligence is possible. I close with an
explanation of the origins of the book-particularly the why and wherefore of the Dialogues.