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== Synopsis == == Synopsis ==
The book contains popular expositions (accessible to readers with no more than a high school mathematics background) on the mathematical theory of ], and a number of related topics. These include ] and their relationship to concepts of ] and the human mind, as well as the conceivability of some unconventional cosmological models. The material is approached from a variety of viewpoints, some more conventionally mathematical and others being nearly mystical. There is a brief account of the author's personal contact with ]. The book contains accessible popular expositions on the mathematical theory of ], and a number of related topics. These include ] and their relationship to concepts of ] and the human mind, as well as the conceivability of some unconventional cosmological models. The material is approached from a variety of viewpoints, some more conventionally mathematical and others being nearly mystical. There is a brief account of the author's personal contact with ].


An appendix contains one of the few popular expositions on ] research on what are known as "strong axioms of infinity." An appendix contains one of the few popular expositions on ] research on what are known as "strong axioms of infinity."

Revision as of 03:11, 24 February 2014

Infinity and the Mind
Cover
AuthorRudy Rucker
SubjectMathematics
PublisherBirkhäuser
Publication date1982
Media typePrint
Pages342
ISBNISBN 978-3-7643-3034-7 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC8113006

Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite is a theoretical mathematics book by American mathematician, computer scientist, and science fiction writer Rudy Rucker.

Marketing

The dust jacket of the original (Birkhäuser) edition had a picture of a star over a mountain and appeared to be a religious or mystical work. Subsequent paperback reprintings had covers suggesting that the publishers wished to appeal to a "new age" market. The most recent editions, from Princeton University Press, have very austere covers suggesting an academic work.

Synopsis

The book contains accessible popular expositions on the mathematical theory of infinity, and a number of related topics. These include Gödel's incompleteness theorems and their relationship to concepts of artificial intelligence and the human mind, as well as the conceivability of some unconventional cosmological models. The material is approached from a variety of viewpoints, some more conventionally mathematical and others being nearly mystical. There is a brief account of the author's personal contact with Kurt Gödel.

An appendix contains one of the few popular expositions on set theory research on what are known as "strong axioms of infinity."

References

  1. Rucker, Rudy (1982). Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00172-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

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