Noson Yanofsky

The author considers what cannot be predicted, described, or known, and what will never be understood, discussing the limitations of computers, physics, logic, and our own thought processes. Moving from the concrete to the abstract, from problems of everyday language to straightforward philosophical questions to the formalities of physics and mathematics, Yanofsky demonstrates a myriad of unsolvable problems and paradoxes. Exploring the various limitations of our knowledge, he shows that many of these limitations have a similar pattern and that by investigating these patterns, we can better understand the structure and limitations of reason itself. He even attempts to look beyond the borders of reason to see what, if anything, is out there.