Godel's Incompleteness Theorem - Numberphile

[longship]

17. One could also read "Godel, Escher, Bach"

One of the best books I've ever read, by Douglas R. Hofstadter. I have read it multiple times, and given away more copies than I can remember.

It's entire title is "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternel Golden Braid. A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll."

If one reads this, it will change your outlook on the world. It is an extraordinary book which has justifiably earned its fame, and its Pulitzer Prize. Its focus centers on Gödel's Incompleteness theorem. And travels around Bach fugues, Escher prints, and, above all, strange loops, which are central to understanding Bach, Escher, AND Gödel.

First published in 1979. My current copy is the 20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author.

Hofstadter not only wrote the book, he typeset it as well. That means he likely knew TeX, the typesetting language invented by computer scientist Donald Knuth, whose books on computer programming are legendary. As is this book by Hofstadter.

Gödel, Escher, and Bach indeed have a common thread, an eternal golden braid. This is an astounding read.



Hofstadter's partial semantic network for GEB (by the author):


Highly recommended:
Gödel, Escher, Bach (Wiki)



"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.


Thus is one of the hooks to understanding how Gödel's theorem works.