Sleight of Mind: 75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy

Exploring more than seventy-five well-known paradoxes in mathematics, philosophy, physics, and the social sciences showing how reason and logic can dispel the illusion of contradiction.

Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician’s purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat. Yet paradox doesn’t require tangibles, like rabbits or hats. Paradox works in the abstract, with words and concepts and symbols, to create the illusion of contradiction. There are no contradictions in reality, but there can appear to be. In Sleight of Mind, Matt Cook and a few collaborators dive deeply into more than 75 paradoxes in mathematics, physics, philosophy, and the social sciences. As each paradox is discussed and resolved, Cook helps readers discover the meaning of knowledge and the proper formation of concepts–and how reason can dispel the illusion of contradiction.

\”A delightful catalog of paradoxes in mathematics, social sciences, and physics. Intellectually curious readers will learn much about how far rational thinking can lead us in understanding the physical and social world and how counter-intuitive the consequences of logic sometimes can be. A most pleasurable trip of discovery!\”
— Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania

Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Imprint: MIT US
Publication date: 20/04/2021