Alwyn Scott.
"A very elegant, thorough and informative defence of his viewpoint concerning the mind as an 'emergent phenomenon.'
I recommend it very warmly indeed."
Roger Penrose, University of Oxford.
| Stairway to the Mind. Alwyn Scott. "A very elegant, thorough and informative defence of his viewpoint concerning the mind as an 'emergent phenomenon.' I recommend it very warmly indeed." Roger Penrose, University of Oxford. |
|
The nature of human consciousness is a mystery
that philosophers, artists, and scientists have struggled with for centuries.
What is the basis for our awareness of ourselves, and the universe around
us? Some believe consciousness is a purely physical phenomenon; others
think it transcends the material world.
In Stairway to the Mind, Alwyn Scott offers
a new perspective - based exclusively on evidence from the natural sciences
- in which materialism and dualism co-exist.
The author, a distinguished pioneer of nonlinear dynamics,
bases his argument on a hierarchical view of mental organization in which
atoms give rise to molecules, neurons form the brain, and individual consciousness
leads to shared culture. It is an organisation Scott symbolises with a
stairway - all steps are needed to complete the structure, and each level
emerges from the previous one. Stairway to the Mind also features
Scott's evenhanded yet penetrating evaluation of the many conflicting concepts
of brain and mind. Few topics have been the subject of such divergent theories,
and readers will appreciate Scott's insight as he compares the work of
writers as diverse as William James and Francis Crick. The book cuts across
intellectual boundaries, incorporating physics, chemistry, cell biology,
neuroscience, psychology, sociology and mathematics. For readers with specific
knowledge in those areas, the book shows what each field adds to an overall
investigation of consciousness. For general readers, it is an introduction
to bold new scientific methods of probing the mind.
Alwyn Scott is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona and in the Institute of Mathematical Modelling at the Technical University of Denmark. He was a founding editor of Physica D-Nonlinear Phenomena, and the founding director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
From reviews of the advance edition:
"An enormously ambitious undertaking, which Scott accomplishes
deftly and with considerable charm ... a refreshing excursion through a
difficult territory." - Erich Harth, Syracuse University. Author of
The Creative Loop: How the Brain makes a Mind.
"Stimulating and lucid ... I would recommend it to anyone seriously
interested in the philosophy and biology of the mind." - M. Deric
Bownds, University of Wisconsin.
"A tour de force: a quick but rich portrait of today's mind ... [Scott's]
writing is imbued with an artistic, almost spiritual quality which suits
neuroscience very well." - Arnold J. Mandell, Florida Atlantic University.
MacArthur Fellow and author of Nightmare Season.
"I couldn't recommend a more accessible starting place for this
fascinating quest." - Arthur T. Winfree, University of Arizona. Author
of The Geometry of Biological Time.
