The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics is a 1989 book by mathematical physicist Roger Penrose. Mathematical physics is the scientific field in between mathematics and physics; it studies the problems inspired by physics within a mathematically rigorous framework. ... Sir Roger Penrose, OM, FRS (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. ...

Penrose presents the argument that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled by a conventional Turing machine-type of digital computer. Penrose hypothesizes that quantum mechanics plays an essential role in the understanding of human consciousness. The collapse of the quantum wavefunction is seen as playing an important role in brain function. Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... Flowcharts are often used to represent algorithms. ... An artistic representation of a Turing Machine . ... ... For a non-technical introduction to the topic, please see Introduction to Quantum mechanics. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... This article discusses the concept of a wavefunction as it relates to quantum mechanics. ...

The English version of the book is 602 pages long. The majority of the book is spent reviewing, for the scientifically-minded layreader, a plethora of interrelated subjects such as Newtonian physics, special and general relativity, the philosophy and limitations of mathematics, quantum physics, cosmology, and the nature of time. Penrose intermittently describes how each of these bears on on his developing theme: that consciousness is not "algorithmic". Only the later portions of the book address the thesis directly, and Penrose admits that his ideas on the nature of consciousness are quite speculative. Classical mechanics is a model of the physics of forces acting upon bodies. ... For a non-technical introduction to the topic, please see Introduction to Special relativity. ... For a non-technical introduction to the topic, please see Introduction to General relativity. ... Fig. ... // Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the Universe in its totality, and by extension, humanitys place in it. ...

The book does not discuss the implications of quantum computers for his theory of consciousness, as it somewhat predated developments in the field of quantum computation. Following the publication of this book, Penrose began to collaborate with Stuart Hameroff on a biological analog to quantum computation involving microtubules, which became the foundation for his subsequent book, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness. Molecule of alanine used in NMR implementation of error correction. ... Stuart Hameroff, MD, is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his promotion of the scientific study of consciousness, and his speculative theories of the mechanisms of consciousness. ... Microtubules are protein structures found within cells. ...

Penrose won the Aventis prize in 1990 for this book. The Aventis Prizes for Science Books is an annual award for the previous years best general science writing and best science writing for children. ...

See also

• The Emperor's New Clothes, the 19th century fairy tale which inspired the book's title
• The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, a 2004 book by Penrose
• Quantum mind
• Alan Turing, creator of the Turing test
• Raymond Smullyan (Is God a Taoist?; An Epistemological Nightmare)

Close-up of three stamps showing scenes from the story The emperor in procession by Edmund Dulac The Emperors New Clothes is a Danish fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen and first published in 1837, as part of Eventyr, Fortalte for Born (Fairy Tales, Told for Children). ... The Road to Reality is a book by the British mathematical physicist Roger Penrose, published in 2004. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Alan Turing is often considered the father of modern computer science. ... The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machines capability to perform human-like conversation. ... Raymond Merrill Smullyan (born 1919) is a mathematician, logician, philosopher, and magician. ...

External links

• A review of the book, by Tal Cohen