168
Chapter Notes
Phenomenology of Perception. Many of his ideas anticipate results of cognitive
science, and present them in a wide perspective.
2.The study of octopus psychology is full of unexpected and surprising facts. An
excellent overview is the book The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration
into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery.
3. Jacques Hadamard was a celebrated mathematician of the early 20th Century. His little book on creativity has the forbidding title The Psychology of
Invention in the Mathematical Field, though it speaks of invention and creativity in a far broader context. For anyone with an interest in the creative mind,
it is well worth reading.
4. Francisco Varela and Humberto Maturana are Chilean biologists who
worked together to form a fundamental theory of living organisms, which
has wide currency today. They argued that all life is cognitive, since at its root
it involves receiving information and actively responding to it. Daniel Dennett is an American philosopher who has written many books on a diversity of
topics. His books are entertaining, original and always provocative.
5. Cognitive biology is a new discipline at the intersection of biology and
cognitive science. Most of the new findings in this field are in specialized
books and journal articles. However, a very accessible review of the subject
is contained in an article titled “Bacteria are small but not stupid: cognition,
natural genetic engineering and socio-bacteriology.”
6. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1983 was awarded to Barbara McClintock for her work which helped usher in Cognitive Biology. Earlier work on the same general topic was also rewarded with a Nobel prize:
The French biologist François Jacob, together with André Lwoff and Jacques
Monod, received the 1965 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning regulatory activities in bacteria.
Chapter Notes
Phenomenology of Perception. Many of his ideas anticipate results of cognitive
science, and present them in a wide perspective.
2.The study of octopus psychology is full of unexpected and surprising facts. An
excellent overview is the book The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration
into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery.
3. Jacques Hadamard was a celebrated mathematician of the early 20th Century. His little book on creativity has the forbidding title The Psychology of
Invention in the Mathematical Field, though it speaks of invention and creativity in a far broader context. For anyone with an interest in the creative mind,
it is well worth reading.
4. Francisco Varela and Humberto Maturana are Chilean biologists who
worked together to form a fundamental theory of living organisms, which
has wide currency today. They argued that all life is cognitive, since at its root
it involves receiving information and actively responding to it. Daniel Dennett is an American philosopher who has written many books on a diversity of
topics. His books are entertaining, original and always provocative.
5. Cognitive biology is a new discipline at the intersection of biology and
cognitive science. Most of the new findings in this field are in specialized
books and journal articles. However, a very accessible review of the subject
is contained in an article titled “Bacteria are small but not stupid: cognition,
natural genetic engineering and socio-bacteriology.”
6. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1983 was awarded to Barbara McClintock for her work which helped usher in Cognitive Biology. Earlier work on the same general topic was also rewarded with a Nobel prize:
The French biologist François Jacob, together with André Lwoff and Jacques
Monod, received the 1965 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning regulatory activities in bacteria.