The author of the widely acclaimed Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (Pulitzer Prize, 1980), Douglas Hofstadter is Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science at Indiana University, where he directs the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition. This multilingual, atypical scientist is the son of a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics.
Emmanuel Sander is a professor of Psychology at the University of Paris VIII.

Is there one central mechanism upon which all human thinking rests? The authors argue that there is in this groundbreaking work that is certain to become a huge success, like Hofstadter’s earlier Gödel, Escher, Bach. But what is that mechanism? Quite simply our incessant propensity for making analogies out of what we see and experience, at every moment of our lives.
Although we are unaware of the process, analogy is the mechanism that chooses our words for us when we speak, helps us understand the most banal everyday situation, guides us in unfamiliar circumstances and inspires our imaginations.
This work shows that human thought is not necessarily shaped by logic, abstraction or conceptualisation.

• This revolutionary work is the result of a lengthy, bilingual collaboration between two outstanding scientists. The English- and French-language editions will be published simultaneously.
• Drawing on the latest scientific research, this new theory on how the mind works is described here in accessible non-technical language and illustrated with numerous examples taken from every area of life.