4.0
Infinity and the Mind
by Rudy Rucker
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 Gödel'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. Using cartoons, puzzles, and quotations to enliven his text, Rucker guides us through such topics as the paradoxes of set theory, the possibilities of physical infinities, and the results of Gödel's incompleteness theorems. His personal encounters with Gödel the mathematician and philosopher provide a rare glimpse at genius and reveal what very few mathematicians have dared to admit: the transcendent implications of Platonic realism.
Mathematics & StatisticsMathematicsMathematics General
PUBLISHERPrinceton University Press
LENGTH368
LANGUAGEENGLISH
Rudolf "Rudy" von Bitter Rucker is a writer and a mathematician who worked for twenty years as a Silicon Valley computer science professor, and published a number of software packages. Rucker is regarded as contemporary master of science-fiction, and received the Philip K. Dick award twice. His forty published books include novels, collections, and non-fiction books on the fourth dimension, infinity, and the meaning of computation. A founder of the cyberpunk school of science-fiction, Rucker also writes SF in a realistic style known as transrealism. His 2006 *Mathematicians in Love* was an example of a transreal novel. His early cyberpunk four-book series was republished in 2010 as *The Ware Tetralogy*. Rucker’s 2007 novel, *Postsingular* was something of a return to the cyberpunk style, as was the 2009 sequel, *Hylozoic*, in which every object on Earth comes to life. Rucker’s autobiography, *Nested Scrolls*, appeared in 2011. Recent novels include *Turing & Burroughs*, *Return to the Hollow Earth*, and *Million Mile Road Trip*. [(Source)][1] [1]: https://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/about/
4.0
Infinity and the Mind
by Rudy Rucker
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 Gödel'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. Using cartoons, puzzles, and quotations to enliven his text, Rucker guides us through such topics as the paradoxes of set theory, the possibilities of physical infinities, and the results of Gödel's incompleteness theorems. His personal encounters with Gödel the mathematician and philosopher provide a rare glimpse at genius and reveal what very few mathematicians have dared to admit: the transcendent implications of Platonic realism.
Mathematics & StatisticsMathematicsMathematics General
PUBLISHERPrinceton University Press
LENGTH368
LANGUAGEENGLISH
Rudolf "Rudy" von Bitter Rucker is a writer and a mathematician who worked for twenty years as a Silicon Valley computer science professor, and published a number of software packages. Rucker is regarded as contemporary master of science-fiction, and received the Philip K. Dick award twice. His forty published books include novels, collections, and non-fiction books on the fourth dimension, infinity, and the meaning of computation. A founder of the cyberpunk school of science-fiction, Rucker also writes SF in a realistic style known as transrealism. His 2006 *Mathematicians in Love* was an example of a transreal novel. His early cyberpunk four-book series was republished in 2010 as *The Ware Tetralogy*. Rucker’s 2007 novel, *Postsingular* was something of a return to the cyberpunk style, as was the 2009 sequel, *Hylozoic*, in which every object on Earth comes to life. Rucker’s autobiography, *Nested Scrolls*, appeared in 2011. Recent novels include *Turing & Burroughs*, *Return to the Hollow Earth*, and *Million Mile Road Trip*. [(Source)][1] [1]: https://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/about/
