Philosophers are trying to find answers to simple questions like soul, God and similar subjects for centruies. Now another concept hits the headlines in the world of philosophy. Mind and Intelligence.

Hofstadter is using the works of Gödel, Escher, Bach and a few other artists and scientists to introduce you to some basic ideas. Then comes the real stuff. What is mind? What is intelligence? ... and What are the limitations of Artificial Intelligence.

This book is a very informative source for every armchair scientist. It has chapters on nearly every aspect of physical and biological sciences.

The world of quantum physics is very different than the scientific world we see and understand. It is a world with uncertainity and that makes it closer to our everyday experiences. In fact, this uncertainity at quantum level is the key of a big discussion on whether the universe can be described as a deterministic system or not.

Some scientists think that the universe is deterministic and everything can be calculated (but we lack the knowledge in some parts at the moment) and others say that the world is undeterministic and there is always an uncetainity in everything.

This book tries to give the reader the basic scientific ideas behind these concepts.

He is trying to do something : Proving the gods existence.

What he does instead : Lays out a very carefully thought scientific approach to all problems.

Find out the reasoning behind "Cogito ergo sum", I think therefore I am.

This book is a collection of Descartes' works where "the Discourse on Method" is only a part. However the other works are equally important.

The book is somewhat hard to read and the style may be out-of-date but still gives you a lot of ideas about the thought process the world had been through.

It is interesting to find out the Quantum Physics and Cosmology, working with the smallest and largest objects of the universe mix together to tell us how the universe had came into existance.

Amazon.com says the book is not in stock... Bad luck. But Amazon.co.UK has a 1998 edition in stock. I have a 1985 edition of the book, which I came across by chance in this summer (1998). I wonder if thes last edition covers the progress in the last 10-12 years. Drop me a note if you read it.

The idea is based on the Gene as the unit of genetical selection and genes are doing all they can do to pass to the next generation. Genes shape the structure and behaviour of the species they live in and the genes that are best at it pass to future generations.

A simple approach but the book provides a very detailed explanation of various aspects of this theory.

I am very pleased to learn that I am just a container to preserve my genes and pass them on to the next generation. We all are just living machines. It somehow explains the purpose of life!!!

This book is one of the many books Dawkins wrote about Darwin's evelution theory. This time his purpose is to confront religious beliefs on creation of life on earth. Darwin's theory had long been a headache for religion. Now Dawkins attacks directly.

Short summary : It happens if all goes well and Darwin's theory explains why it all goes well so it happens.

Actually this looks like a very popular explanation nowadays since Hawkins had explained first nanoseconds of the Big Bang in the same fashion: If you wait long enough it may happen.

A very good book indeed. A must to read.