Great Circle of Mysteries

This visionary and engaging book provides a mathematical perspective on the fundamental ideas of numbers, space, life, evolution, the brain and the mind. The author suggests how a development of mathematical concepts in the spirit of category theory may lead to unravelling the mystery of the human mind and the design of universal learning algorithms.The book is divided into two parts, the first of which describes the ideas of great mathematicians and scientists, those who saw sparks of light in the dark sea of unknown. The second part, Memorandum Ergo, reflects on how mathematics can contribute to the understanding of the mystery of thought. It argues that the core of the human mind is a structurally elaborated object that needs a creation of a broad mathematical context for its understanding. Readers will discover the main properties of the expected mathematical objects within this context, called ERGO-SYSTEMS, and readers will see how these systems may serve as prototypesfor design of universal learning computer programs. This is a work of great, poetical insight and is richly illustrated. It is a highly attractive read for all those who welcome a mathematical and scientific way of thinking about the world.

Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov is a French-Russian mathematician. He is a Professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and New York University. During his outstanding career he has received many honors and prizes; most recently he was awarded the Abel Prize "for his revolutionary contributions to geometry." He is a prolific author with more than 150 scientific publications including 8 books.