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The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science)
 
 
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The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science) (Paperback)

by Sir Roger Penrose (Author) "OVER THE PAST few decades, electronic computer technology has made enormous strides ..." (more)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Sunday Times

"perhaps the most engaging and creative tour of modern physics that has ever been written"


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perhaps the most engaging and creative tour of modern physics that has ever been written (Sunday Times )
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OVER THE PAST few decades, electronic computer technology has made enormous strides. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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3.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Penrose's Fascinating Summary of Modern Science, 16 Feb 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and the Laws of Physics (Hardcover)
Roger Penrose, one of the world's top physicists, summarizes modern science, examining topics including Turing machines, relativity, quantum physics, black holes, etc. At the end, he argues that the human mind can not be simulated by computers or anything algorithmic. The Emperor's New Mind is my favorite book, although I didn't feel that way the first time I read it. It is quite technical, compared to, for instance, A Brief History of Time, which covers some of the same topics. The second time I read the book, I really dedicated a lot of time to understand the material as well as I could, often working out problems with paper and pencil. This was necessary for me to see that his conclusion was related to the rest of the book. While Penrose obviously can not "prove" his belief, he gives a strong, fascinating arguement, and the book has definitely affected my philosophical views concerning consciousness.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Mathematically Advanced, 21 Jul 2006
I found this book stimulating and entertaining in equal measure. It looks at the questions such as -- if we had enough information, we could predict absolutely everything, or not? Is the human mind simply a machine (for example a computer)? Can we actually be transported Star-trek style or not? Are we (including our memories) just a collection of atoms that could be reconstituted?

In answering these questions Penrose embarks on a tour of the mathematical concepts and theories that underpin our understanding of the Universe.

There seems to be much more maths than is really needed, and there is a lot of theory (The book runs to over 500 pages after all). You will also need advanced A level maths to cope (on the basis that I just coped, and that's the level of maths I reached).

Entertaining and enjoyable IF you are interested in Maths. If you are not, stay away.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars superb math, physics and computation theory, poor biology, 11 Jan 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and the Laws of Physics (Hardcover)
Penrose's text should be seen as a two fold effort: the first is pedagogical: it exposes with superb insight the theories of mathematical physics, the physical basis of computation theory (he draws on an analogy with geometry), as well as, a Platonic philosophy of mathematics (the present reviewer believes in a naturalistic approach, but that is hardly the matter here!). IF this was all in the book one could hardly give it less than five stars. However, Penrose goes further and discusses the biology of cognition; in my opinion at this point he is a bit out of his personal scientific experience and contributions, and his thoughts are speculative; the further involment of cosmology in the work makes the whole project a bit incoherent. Overall Penrose connects cosmology with biology of cognition through the key theory of quantum gravity which he speculates ties them together!; well for those who like to study science and not mere speculations these mean that they shall not enjoy some parts of the book! The other central theme, that quantum gravity is nonalgorithmic, and thus since (as he speculates) cognition is a quantum-gravitational phenomenon it should be also nonalgorithmic, it is of course a consistent conception, but again science requires more than that, it requires ways to test ideas and in my opinion Penrose offers none! But after all perhaps he did not intented to write down a science book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Worthwhile Reading.
Although I am currently making my way through Professor Penrose's book, a review of my impressions thus far is warranted. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Laurence

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tour of physics, not sure about the metaphysics
I give this book five stars cos it occupies, along with Barrow and Tipler's The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford Paperbacks) a niche that nothing else quite does. Read more
Published 15 months ago by John Ferngrove

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this
The one redeeming feature this book had was its overview of theoretical physics. The chapters bookending the good bit were a complete nonsense. Read more
Published 15 months ago by H. A. Van Berg

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylistic difficulties mask an outstanding book
Penrose does not shrink from the difficult when trying to explain the problems he's obsessed about. This is one of the best books on the subject (the subject in question being... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Matt Westwood

2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title
The book digreses too far from its title with long detailed coverage of mathematical proofs and descriptions of quantum mechanics. Read more
Published on 12 May 2003 by AS

4.0 out of 5 stars Mind Bending Stuff
This book made me go away and learn math. After that I came back and found it incredible. It has inspired me to read books in many diverse subjects and made me consider taking a... Read more
Published on 9 May 2003 by whelmingodds

4.0 out of 5 stars An attempt to show that a conscious machine cannot be built
The author seeks to show that there is something about the mind that is 'not of the material world', and thus persuade us that a conscious computer or robot can never be built... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2001 by bobobob5

4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely tour of recent mathematics and physics
Sir Roger Penrose provides a contemporary review of theoretical computing, mathematical physics and briefly, the biology of the brain to create a case for the non-computability of... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2000 by roydwhittington@netscapeonline...

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good indeed
This is a challenging book. It ranges widely through mathematics, quantum mechanics and cosmology, and it does so in depth.

But the effort is worth it. Read more

Published on 22 Oct 1998

3.0 out of 5 stars Very thought provoking but logically flawed
I found the book to actually be more interesting in its discussion of physics and quantum mechanics than when I got to his thesis on mind and the computational impossibility of... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 1997

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