Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose
The motivation for this book arose, in part, from a need for detailed replies to a number of queries and criticisms from readers of the author's previous book, The Emperor's New Mind , many of whom have gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid the conclusion that there must be something non-computational involved in thinking. Penrose searches for a means, within the constraints of the hard facts of science, whereby a scientifically describable brain might be able to perform the needed non-computational actions. He develops the argument of how quantum effects might have a fundamental relevance to consciousness and to non-computable brain action. Some of the more startling implications of this are based on new scientific information which is discussed in detail, leading to one of the most extraordinary and fundamental implications of quantum theory: quantum entanglement, the process by which the behaviour of `classically' described systems is explicable only in quantum mechanical terms. There is a thorough examination of the implications of G "odel's theorem maintaining that conscious thinking must indeed involve ingredients that cannot adequately be simulated by mere computation. No prior knowledge of quantum theory on the part of the reader is assumed. This book is intended for the general reader; physicists, computer scientists, philosophers, etc.Sir Roger Penrose is renowned for his significant contributions to mathematical physics, in particular general relativity and cosmology. Currently Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1957, before being appointed Research Fellow at St. John's College, Cambridge. He then spent time at Princeton and Syracuse University before returning to the UK as a research associate at King's College, London, which was quickly followed by a further stint in the U.S. at the University of Texas at Austin. He then returned to the UK to Birkbeck College, London, where he eventually became Professor of Applied Mathematics. In 1973, he was appointed Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, earning the status Emeritus Professor in 1998. In the same year, he was also appointed Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London. Penrose has been awarded numerous honors for his scientific contributions: in 1975 with Stephen Hawking he was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and in 1988 Penrose and Hawking were awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics for their development of the theory of general relativity. In 1985, Penrose received the Royal Society's Royal Medal and in 1989 he was honored with the Dirac Medal and Prize of the British Institute of Physics. In 1990, he received the Albert Einstein Medal, followed by the Naylor Prize of the London Mathematical Society in 1991, and the DeMorgan Medal for his wide and original contributions to mathematical physics in 2004. A Fellow of the Royal Society of London since 1972, Penrose was elected Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and in 1994 he was knighted for services to science.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780198539780 |
| ISBN 10 | 0198539789 |
| Title | Shadows of the Mind |
| Author | Roger Penrose |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 1994-11-01 |
| Number of pages | 473 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |