Overview

"In Infinity and the Mind, Rudy Rucker leads an excursion to that stretch of the universe he calls the ""Mindscape,"" where he explores infinity in all its forms: potential and actual, mathematical and physical, theological and mundane. Rucker acquaints us with Godel's rotating universe, in which it is theoretically possible to travel into the past, and explains an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which billions of parallel worlds are produced every microsecond. It is in the realm of infinity, he maintains, that mathematics, science, and logic merge with the fantastic. By closely examining the paradoxes that arise from this merging, we can learn a great deal about the human mind, its powers, and its limitations."

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9780691121277

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Reviews

Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind is a terrific study with real mathematical depth. New Yorker Rudy Rucker, set theorist and science-fiction author, has continued the tradition ... of making mathematics and computer science accessible to the intellectually minded layperson... Infinity and the Mind is funny, provocative, entertaining, and profound. -- Joseph Shipman Journal of Symbolic Logic Attempts to put Godel's theorems into sharper focus, or at least to explain them to the nonspecialist, abound. My personal favorite is Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind, which I recommend without reservation. -- Craig Smorynski The American Mathematical Monthly [Rucker] leads his readers through these mental gymnastics in an easy, informal way. San Francisco Chronicle A captivating excursion through the mathematical approaches to the notions of infinity and the implications of that mathematics for the vexing questions on the mind, existence, and consciousness. Mathematics Teacher It is difficult to find any aspect of infinity that is not explored in this compelling book... This memorable book is one to be kept on an accessible shelf after reading it: it will not leave the reader unaffected. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education

"""Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind is a terrific study with real mathematical depth.""--New Yorker ""Rudy Rucker, set theorist and science-fiction author, has continued the tradition ... of making mathematics and computer science accessible to the intellectually minded layperson... Infinity and the Mind is funny, provocative, entertaining, and profound.""--Joseph Shipman, Journal of Symbolic Logic ""Attempts to put G?del's theorems into sharper focus, or at least to explain them to the nonspecialist, abound. My personal favorite is Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind, which I recommend without reservation.""--Craig Smorynski, The American Mathematical Monthly ""[Rucker] leads his readers through these mental gymnastics in an easy, informal way.""--San Francisco Chronicle ""A captivating excursion through the mathematical approaches to the notions of infinity and the implications of that mathematics for the vexing questions on the mind, existence, and consciousness.""--Mathematics Teacher ""It is difficult to find any aspect of infinity that is not explored in this compelling book... This memorable book is one to be kept on an accessible shelf after reading it: it will not leave the reader unaffected.""--Journal for Research in Mathematics Education"

Rudy Rucker?s Infinity and the Mind is a terrific study with real mathematical depth. --New Yorker Rudy Rucker, set theorist and science-fiction author, has continued the tradition ... of making mathematics and computer science accessible to the intellectually minded layperson... Infinity and the Mind is funny, provocative, entertaining, and profound. --Joseph Shipman, Journal of Symbolic Logic Attempts to put G?del's theorems into sharper focus, or at least to explain them to the nonspecialist, abound. My personal favorite is Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind, which I recommend without reservation. --Craig Smorynski, The American Mathematical Monthly [Rucker] leads his readers through these mental gymnastics in an easy, informal way. --San Francisco Chronicle A captivating excursion through the mathematical approaches to the notions of infinity and the implications of that mathematics for the vexing questions on the mind, existence, and consciousness. --Mathematics Teacher It is difficult to find any aspect of infinity that is not explored in this compelling book... This memorable book is one to be kept on an accessible shelf after reading it: it will not leave the reader unaffected. --Journal for Research in Mathematics Education

Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind is a terrific study with real mathematical depth. -- New Yorker Rudy Rucker, set theorist and science-fiction author, has continued the tradition ... of making mathematics and computer science accessible to the intellectually minded layperson... Infinity and the Mind is funny, provocative, entertaining, and profound. -- Joseph Shipman, Journal of Symbolic Logic Attempts to put Godel's theorems into sharper focus, or at least to explain them to the nonspecialist, abound. My personal favorite is Rudy Rucker's Infinity and the Mind, which I recommend without reservation. -- Craig Smorynski, The American Mathematical Monthly [Rucker] leads his readers through these mental gymnastics in an easy, informal way. -- San Francisco Chronicle A captivating excursion through the mathematical approaches to the notions of infinity and the implications of that mathematics for the vexing questions on the mind, existence, and consciousness. -- Mathematics Teacher It is difficult to find any aspect of infinity that is not explored in this compelling book... This memorable book is one to be kept on an accessible shelf after reading it: it will not leave the reader unaffected. -- Journal for Research in Mathematics Education

Author Information

"Rudy Rucker is Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at San Jose State University and the author of numerous books on mathematics and philosophy, including ""Artificial Life Lab"", ""Mind Tools: The Five Levels of Mathematical Reality"", and ""The Fourth Dimension: A Guided Tour of Higher Universes"". Among his works of science fiction are ""White Light, Software,"" and ""Space-Time Donuts""."

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