Surfaces and Essences

Longlisted for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

“Surfaces and Essences warrants a place alongside Gödel, Escher, Bach and major recent treatments of human cognition. Analogy is not the endpoint of understanding, but its indispensable beginning.”—Science

“Lucid and, page for page, a delight to read… Surfaces and Essences contains gems of insight.”—Nature

“Clear, lively, and personal.”—Wall Street Journal

“Knowing what makes a duck a bird and what makes a plane not a bird may not seem like very profound mental feats, but Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander see such cognitive connections as part of an extraordinarily profound process… Be prepared to become hyper-conscious of the myriad of analogies one makes every moment of every day... The end result is a book that is ambitious and provocative.”—Globe and Mail (Canada)

“A revelatory foray into the dynamics of the mind.”—Booklist (Starred)

“How do we know what we know? How do we know at all? With an enjoyable blend of hard science and good storytelling, Hofstadter and French psychologist Sander tackle these most elusive of philosophical matters… It’s worth sticking with Hofstadter’s long argument, full of up-to-date cognitive science and, at the end, a beguiling look at how the theory of relativity owes to analogy… First rate popular science: difficult but rewarding.”—Kirkus (Starred)

“Like Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Gödel, Escher, Bach, this work executes, from a very complex thesis, an understanding by general readers while also appealing to specialists in philosophy of mind and cognitive science.”—Library Journal

“Hofstadter and Sander’s book is a wonderful and insightful account of the role of analogy in cognition. Immensely enjoyable, with a plethora of fascinating examples and anecdotes, this book will make you understand your own thought processes in a wholly new way. It’s analogy all the way down!”—Melanie Mitchell, author of Complexity

“I am one of those cognitive scientists who believe that analogy is a key to explaining human intelligence. This magnum opus by Douglas Hofstadter, who has reflected on the nature of analogy for decades, and Emmanuel Sander, is a milestone in our understanding of human thought, filled with insights and new ideas.”—Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought

“Hofstadter and Sander’s book starts with two audacious goals: to show that none of us can think a minute without using a variety of analogies, and that becoming aware of this fact can help us think more clearly. Then, patiently and with humor, the authors prove their claims across the whole spectrum, from everyday conversation to scientific thought processes, even that of Einstein.”—Gerald Holton, Harvard University

 “Placing analogy at the core of cognition Hofstadter and Sander provide a persuasive answer to the question ‘what is thought?’ Analogy is the mechanism underlying the myriad instances of concept formation and categorization we perform throughout any day, whether unconscious or explicit, without which there would be no thought. They mount a compelling case through analysis of a wealth of insightful, imaginative and real exemplars, from everyday thinking to the highest achievements of the human mind, which are sure to persuade a broad range of readers.”—Nancy J. Nersessian, author of Creating Scientific Concepts