Gödel, Escher, Bach
Godel, Escher, Bach - an Endless braided belt, short GEB, is a book by Douglas R. Hofstadter in 1979, the original title is:. Godel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid.
Background
The German translation appeared in 1985. Hofstadter provides in certain self-referential patterns, called by him Strange loops, the key to understanding of phenomena such as being or consciousness. He provides this pattern before in his book.
His system combines the mathematical work of Kurt Gödel with the artistic illustrations of MC Escher and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. These creative works, he is related to computer science, such as self-referential computer programs, the so-called Quine, and the structures of the DNA, and therefore the molecular biology.
Each chapter is preceded by a short dialogue with the main characters Achilles and turtle Theo, in which the theme of the chapter is illustrated playful. This is done through the events described, but partly also by stylistic means.
The book became a bestseller in Germany and was for five months at No. 1, 1980 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Non-Fiction and the American Book Award in the category Science Hardback.
Expenditure
- Douglas R. Hofstadter: Godel, Escher, Bach. An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books, New York, NY 1979, ISBN 0-465-02685-0.
- Douglas R. Hofstadter: Godel, Escher, Bach. An Eternal Golden Braid. ( Anniversary edition with a new preface by the author ). Vintage Books, New York, NY, 1989, ISBN 0-394-75682-7.
- Douglas R. Hofstadter: Godel, Escher, Bach - an Endless braided band. 18th edition. Klett- Cotta, Stuttgart 2008 ( Original title:. Godel, Escher, Bach An Eternal Golden Braid ), ISBN 978-3-6089-4442-6.