The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science)

Penrose, Roger; Gardner, Martin

ISBN 10: 0192861980 / ISBN 13: 9780192861986

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002

About this Item

Like new: The book looks new and has not been read, but does have some very minor shelf wear. It has no missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. It may have very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover as well as very minimal wear and tear.

Seller Inventory # R699c

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192861980
• ISBN 13: 9780192861986
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 5th or later Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Dimensions: 3.81W x 19.56H x 12.7D centimeters 3.81 centimeters width by 19.56 centimeters height by 12.7 centimeters depth
• Weight: 658 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science
  • Mathematics
  • Physics

About this title

Synopsis

For decades, proponents of artificial intelligence have argued that computers will soon be doing everything that a human mind can do. Admittedly, computers now play chess at the grandmaster level, but do they understand the game as we do? Can a computer eventually do everything a human mind can do?
In this absorbing and frequently contentious book, Roger Penrose--eminent physicist and winner, with Stephen Hawking, of the prestigious Wolf prize--puts forward his view that there are some facets of human thinking that can never be emulated by a machine. Penrose examines what physics and mathematics can tell us about how the mind works, what they can't, and what we need to know to understand the physical processes of consciousness.
He is among a growing number of physicists who think Einstein wasn't being stubborn when he said his "little finger" told him that quantum mechanics is incomplete, and he concludes that laws even deeper than quantum mechanics are essential for the operation of a mind. To support this contention, Penrose takes the reader on a dazzling tour that covers such topics as complex numbers, Turing machines, complexity theory, quantum mechanics, formal systems, Godel undecidability, phase spaces, Hilbert spaces, black holes, white holes, Hawking radiation, entropy, quasicrystals, the structure of the brain, and scores of other subjects.
The Emperor's New Mind will appeal to anyone with a serious interest in modern physics and its relation to philosophical issues, as well as to physicists, mathematicians, philosophers and those on either side of the AI debate.

About the Author

Roger Penrose is the Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He has received a number of prizes and awards, including the 1988 Wolf Prize which he shared with with Stephen Hawking for their joint contribution to our understanding of the universe.