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Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence.
This is simply the best and most beautiful book ever written by the human species. This was the book that launched me on my career in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. I don't mean to imply that those are the only topics covered; Gödel, Escher, Bach also deals with mathematics, music, art, programming, Zen, philosophy, self-reference, and everything in the world that is bright and beautiful. This is the most intelligent, the deepest, the most beautiful book in the world. Period. End of story.
I'm not alone in this opinion, by the way. For one thing, Gödel, Escher, Bach won a Pulitzer Prize. Or just pick a random scientist and ask ver what vis favorite book is, and 1 out of 5 will say: "Gödel, Escher, Bach". No other book even comes close.
It is saddening to contemplate that every day, 150,000 humans die without reading what is indisputably one of the greatest achievements of our species. Don't let it happen to you.
Sure, if you're just an average person, you might not understand everything in this book - but when you're done reading, you won't be an average person any more.
--Eliezer Yudkowsky, Bookshelf