Metamagical Themas

“Enormously ambitious and hugely interesting.”—New York Times Book Review

“The closest thing imaginable to taking a voyage through a mind.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“‘Delight’ is the operational word.”—Chicago Tribune

“Douglas Hofstadter is a scientist with the inspired madness of a poet.”—New Republic

“This wonderful collection tackles virtually every area of fascination and controversy in science today, from mathematics and quantum mechanics through evolutionary theory to artificial intelligence, the nature of human thought and rational choice, and ties them together by showing how understanding in one area enhances understanding in others.”—Daniel C. Dennett, Tufts University

“The incredible Dr. Hofstadter is back, in golden-braid form, with a collection of wide-ranging essays that swarm with extraordinary ideas, brilliant fables, deep philosophical questions and Carrollian word play.”—Martin Gardner

“Hofstadter is rapidly becoming the Hamlet of our times: whatever he says is both exact and double-edged, reassuring but provocative, poetic and self-challenging. His scariest insights and most agonizing intellectual probings are graced, like Hamlet’s, with humor, affection, and a kind of mad musical charm.”—Leonard Bernstein