Mathematics and Humor : A Study of the Logic of Humor

by John Allen Paulos

Editorial Reviews
Joseph Ercolano, Library Journal, 1980
"Mathematics and Humor is an original, sophisticated, and scholarly treatment of the logic and mathematics of humor. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Douglas Hofstadter, New York Times Book Review, 1980
Paulos's writing is unpretentious and his approach is unorthodox and fresh." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Harvey Mindess, Los Angeles Times Book Review, 1980
Many scholars nowadays write seriously about the ludicrous. Some merely manage to be dull. A few - like Paulos - are brilliant in an odd endeavor. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
"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



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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.