Mathematics and Humor - Softcover

Paulos, John Allen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226650251 ISBN 13: 9780226650258

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1982

Synopsis

John Allen Paulos cleverly scrutinizes the mathematical structures of jokes, puns, paradoxes, spoonerisms, riddles, and other forms of humor, drawing examples from such sources as Rabelais, Shakespeare, James Beattie, René Thom, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Koestler, W. C. Fields, and Woody Allen.

"Jokes, paradoxes, riddles, and the art of non-sequitur are revealed with great perception and insight in this illuminating account of the relationship between humor and mathematics."-Joseph Williams, New York Times

"'Leave your mind alone, ' said a Thurber cartoon, and a really complete and convincing analysis of what humour is might spoil all jokes forever. This book avoids that danger. What it does. . .is describe broadly several kinds of mathematical theory and apply them to throw sidelights on how many kinds of jokes work."-New Scientist

"Many scholars nowadays write seriously about the ludicrous. Some merely manage to be dull. A few-like Paulos-are brilliant in an odd endeavor."-Los Angeles Times Book Review

About this title

From the Author:

In the book I i} explore the operations and structures common to humor and the formal sciences (logic, mathematics, and linguistics), ii) show how various notions from these sciences provide formal analogues for different sorts of jokes and joke schema, and iii) develop a mathematical model of jokes (joke schema) using ideas from "catastrophe theory". In accomplishing this I discuss self- reference, recursivity, axioms, logical levels, non-standard models, transformational grammar, and several "mathematical" (in an extended sense) ideas. Relevant psychological and philosophical matters are discussed and provide a matrix for both the technical development and for the jokes.

From the Back Cover:

John Allen Paulos cleverly scrutinizes the mathematical structures of jokes, puns, paradoxes, spoonerisms, riddles, and other forms of humor, drawing examples from such sources as Rabelais, Shakespeare, James Beattie, Rene Thom, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Koestler, W.C. Fields, and Woody Allen.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0226650251
• ISBN 13: 9780226650258
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 124