I’m working on it every day during lunch break. Good old hardcopy.
replyGEB is not a difficult read. It is delightful!
replyIt is a popular science book which catches the vibe of mathematical logic in an excellent way. It is not a textbook, nor a piece of research. It's all vibes, but high-quality vibes. If you are in the right headspace it can be really inspiring!
I read it cover to cove back in the day and enjoyed it. But I'm not sure more people should read it today.
replyIf they do and enjoy it, good for them! But many parts haven't aged all that well.
However, I can still very warmly recommend 'The Pleasures of Counting' to this very day.
What hasn't aged well? I don't think any of it is dated to any particular time period.
replyI had my copy signed by Prof Hofstadter; a treasure to this day. Led to a maths degree, years of organ playing classes, a career in software, and a Zen practice going on 20 years. And I'm pescatarian. I even wrote a few haiku when my babies were little. Hmm, time for another listen to a Tocatta and Fugue.
replyI read it on my honeymoon 25 years ago. That book sticks with you.
replyAre you still married?
replyfinally we shall be able to answer the age old question - does Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid stick with you better than a spouse!
replyGodel, Escher, Bachelor?
replyI thought the recommended honeymoon reading was Knuth’s _Surreal Numbers_
replyIt's been years since I cracked open a copy, maybe I should give it another shot.
replyIf you want to get to the meat of the issue, without the extraneous stuff, you might also tackle: Godel's Theorem Simplified.
replyhttps://www.amazon.com/Godels-Theorem-Simplified-Harry-Gensl...
The extraneous stuff is honestly fabulous, IMO of course. Just being able to listen to a four part fugue sensibly is a rare but accessible pleasure. And amusing dialogs as an instantiated dialectic for showing the truth synthesized from apparent opposites, is a great pedagogical learning.
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