Infinity and the mind
by Rudy Rucker · first published 1982
62% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Covers infinity from both mathematical and philosophical angles, offering a broad, accessible tour of the science and ideas behind the infinite. It is especially suited to math-minded readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…fiction is great too and puts William Gibson to shame when it comes to cyberpunk, but Gibson wrote his prior to the PC era. Rudy Rucker was also quite good at the time but his best non-fiction works such as Infinity and the Mind (a must read for you math geeks) are out of print. I also liked The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra a lot growing up. I looked on Goodreads for authors that are similar to Toffler and while I recognized…
on “Alvin Toffler, Author of ‘Future Shock,’ Dies at 87” ↗If you're fascinated by infinity, you should check out 'Infinity and the mind' by Rudy Rucker. It really puts the concept of infinity in it's historical perspective and even contains a unique conversation between Rucker and Godel. (shameless plug: I wrote a review on my blog http://branchandbound.net/blog/bookreview/2013/01/bookreview...)
on “Take It to the Limit (2010)” ↗Questions such as these are tackled in the excellent book Infinity and the Mind [0]. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Mind-Philosophy-Infinite-Pri...
on “What the brain's wiring looks like” ↗…things that I might never have been introduced to. Hard to know whether it would have the same impact now or the same impact for others but I rate it very highly for personal reasons. Also - Rudy Rucker's 'Infinity and the Mind'...
on “Gödel and the limits of logic” ↗Here are a few popular science books: One Two Three . . . Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science by George Gamow Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite by Rudy Rucker Yearning for the Impossible: The Surprising Truths of Mathematics by John Stillwell Roads to Infinity by John Stillwell If you want actual…
on “Ask HN: Does anyone know of any textbooks on infinity?” ↗One classic choice is "Infinity and the Mind" by Rudy Rucker, which explores infinity from both mathematical and philosophical perspectives. For a more mathematical approach, "Understanding Infinity: The Mathematics of Infinite Processes" by A.C.…
on “Ask HN: Does anyone know of any textbooks on infinity?” ↗…few decades an unknown author brings out a book of such depth, clarity, range, wit, beauty and originality that it is recognised at once as a major literary event. This is such a work." Nevertheless, Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite by Rudy Rucker is, in my opinion, a better choice for the mathematically inclined layman interested in Goedel's discoveries and plenty of related mathematics.…
on “The complete story of Gödel incompleteness” ↗The fact that this is on Rudy Rucker’s github makes it doubly cool. Reading his book “Infinity and the Mind” is what got me to go back to school (as a math major). That book changed my life for the better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Rucker
on “James Gleick's Chaos: The Software” ↗Did you also read Rucker's 'Infinity and the Mind'? Contains a fascinating discussion of this problem.
on “Who Can Name the Biggest Number?” ↗Rolls Eyes Someone here hasn't heard of Georg Cantor. (More to the point, this is only a paradox if you assume that there is only one transfinite number. A brisk tour of "Infinity and the Mind" by Rudy Rucker sufficed to disabuse me of that idea some years ago. Time for a re-read, I think.)
on “Find the "bug" - Two equals Four - a mathematical "paradox"” ↗…Story of √-1 (Paul J. Nahin; 1998) 12. Dr. Euler’s Fabulous Formula (Paul J. Nahin; 2006) 13. Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis: The Quest to Find the Hidden Law of Prime Numbers (Dan Rockmore, 2006) 14. Infinity and the Mind (Rudy Rucker, 2004) 15. The Riemann Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics (Karl Sabbagh, 2004) 16. The Prime Numbers and Their Distribution. (Tenenbaum and Mendès, 2000)
on “The Riemann Hypothesis, explained” ↗I first got into transfinite numbers through a book by Rudy Rucker, "Infinity and The Mind." I tried explaining this subject to a Doctoral candidate once, at around 2am - and he accused me of having come off my meds.
on “Levels of Infinity” ↗OP Rudy Rucker also wrote the book Infinity and the Mind, on the same shelf in Barnes and Noble, another late 20th Century pop math book for nerds, with off the beaten path mathematical content and a not quite accurate perspective on the direction the world…
on “James Gleick's Chaos: The Software” ↗With regards to the "Rucker, Infinity and the Mind" except that says: >The proof of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem is so simple, and so sneaky, that it is almost embarassing to relate. His basic procedure is as follows: (...) Actually, Godel's theorem…
on “Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem explained” ↗