Revises the traditional view of consciousness by claiming that tautology and Descartes' dualism of mind and body should be replaced with theories from the realms of neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence.

'What is a self, and how can a self come out of inaminate matter?' This book examines this riddle. Linking together the music of J S Bach, the graphic art of Escher and the mathematical theorems of Godel, as well as ideas drawn from logic, biology, psychology, physics and linguistics, it reveals the mysteries of human thought processes.

A leading expert of the neurophysiology of emotions, Damasio shows how our consciousness arose out of the development of emotion. At its core human consciousness is consciousness of the feeling and experiencing self.

In his work of popular science, Sir Roger Penrose takes us on a fascinating roller-coaster ride through the basic principles of physics, cosmology, mathematics, and philosophy to show that human thinking can never be emulated by a machine.

Can thought arise out of matter? Can self, a soul, a consciousness, an I arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? This title argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the 'strange loop' - a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains.

The author of this text offers a theory of consciousness. He proposes that conscious experience must be understood as an irreducible entity similar to such physical properties as time, mass, and space that exists at a fundamental level and cannot be understood as the sum of its parts.

By the author of The Emperor's New Mind , this is an exploration of what modern physics has to tell us about the mind, and a visionary description of what a new physics might look like. It is also a speculation on the biological process that makes consciousness what it is.

Why do memories fade? Why do we lose our tempers? Why do fools fall in love? This work explores the nature and history of the human mind. It looks at the computations and evolutions, and then considers how the mind lets us see, think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion and philosophy.

Takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behaviour.

In 1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gramme of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything was transformed. Huxley described his experience in this book and its sequel Heaven and Hell .

Why is consciousness such a special and difficult issue for twenty-first century science? This book explores the big questions on the nature of brains, minds, and consciousness, through twenty interviews with some of the best-known personalities from the worlds of science and philosophy.

Mathematicians throughout history have created shapes, forms, and relationships, and some of these can be expressed visually. This book discusses topics such as aesthetics for computers, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, cubism and relativity in twentieth-century art, the aesthetic value of optimal geometry, and mathematics and cinema.

In The Quest for Consciousness Christof Koch, one of the leading researchers in the emerging science of consciousness, explores the biological basis of the subjective mind in animals and people.

'Phantoms in The Brain' takes a revolutionary new approach to theories of the brain, from one of the world's leading experimental neurologists.

In this, his first book aimed at the general reader, Gerald Edelman describes how consciousness arises in complex brains and how it is related to evolution, to the development of the self, and to the origins of feelings, learning, and memory. Edelman's theories offer a solution to the mind-body problem.

As our minds develop we create a personalized inner world based on our experiences. But during periods of intense emotion, such as anger, fear or euphoria, we can literally lose our mind, returning to the mental state we experienced as infants. This book intends to answer how our unique sense of self is created.

In this tour-de-force of scientific investigation, Walker shows how the operation of bizarre yet actual properties of elementary particles support a new and exciting theory of reality, based on the principles of quantum physics: a theory that answers questions such as What is the nature of consciousness, of will? What is the source of material reality? and What is God?

Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. This anthology of his major work contains a foreword by his daughter Mary Katherine Bateson.

In this work Zen Buddhism becomes the opening wedge for an exploration of consciousness. The author aims to show that in order to understand which brain mechanisms produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain.