Hace tiempo estaba indeciso, ahora ya no estoy tan seguro

Por lo que pone en la contraportada la historia que cuenta el libro es cuanto menos curiosa. Usando el ejemplo de antiguas civilizaciones que en su cumbre de progreso desaparecieron hace reflejo de que eso mismo puede pasar a nuestra sociedad actual.

De la contraportada

Have we learnt the lessons of the past – or will we be next?

Many of the great ruins that grace the deserts and jungles of the earth are monuments to civilisations which fell victim to their own success: from Easter Island’s monolithic wilderness to the perpetual silence of the Mayan ruins and ultimately to today’s melting ice caps and growing ozone hole, the cycle has continually repeated itself across the years.

«Unfailingly provocative and scarily persuasive.» – Scotsman

«The author sifts the findings of archaeology and anthorpology with thoughtful grace to build a potent argument.» – Guardian

«I was thoroughly shake up by Ronal Wirght’s A Short History of Progress, a brilliant analysis of everything humanity has done to ruin itself down the ages». – Jan Morris, Independent.

«Wise, timely and brilliant.» – Globe and Mail

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De Rudy Rucker solamente leí el El Hacker y las Hormigas, libro de ciencia ficción que me había gustado en su momento. Este que tengo entre mis manos no es ciencia ficción, sino un ensayo entorno a las matemáticas, a ver si me gusta como el anterior.

De la contraportada

From mathematics and computers to insights into the workings of the human mind, Mind Tools is a reflection of the latest intelligence from the frontiers of mathematical thought. Illuminated by more than 100 drawings, Mind Tools connects mathematics to the world around us. It reveals that the great power of mathematics comes from the fact that it serves as alternative language for understanding things – from one’s hand to the size of infinity. Exploring such concepts as digital versus analog processes, logic as computing tool, and communication as information transmission, Rudy Rucker presents the «mind tools» for a postmodern age.

«A lighthearted romp through contemporary mathematics… It is shorter and more approachable than Gödel, Excher, Bach… Mind Tools is a delight.» – San Francisco Chronicle.

«Mind Tools is an original and fascinating look at various aspects of mathematics taht is sure to fascinate the nonmathematician.» – Isaac Asimov

«Rucker is to math what Fritjof Capra is to physics and Carla Sagan is to astronomy – a brilliant popularizer with an undisciplined imagination.» – California Magazine.

«For those who gave up college mathematics for what seemed more liberal arts, Rudy Rucker’s new book, Mind Tools, is a dazzling refresher course… He rekindles the wonder that can come from contemplating logarithms, exponential curves and transcendental numbers.» – New York Times Book Review.

Rudy Rucker is author of more than a dozen books on science and science fiction, including Infinity and the Mind of the Fourth Dimension. He is a professor of mathematics and computer sicence at San Jose State University in California.

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