On Intelligence (Google eBook)

Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee

Macmillan, Apr 1, 2007 - Science - 272 pages

From the inventor of the PalmPilot comes a new and compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines

Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intelligence itself.

Hawkins develops a powerful theory of how the human brain works, explaining why computers are not intelligent and how, based on this new theory, we can finally build intelligent machines.

The brain is not a computer, but a memory system that stores experiences in a way that reflects the true structure of the world, remembering sequences of events and their nested relationships and making predictions based on those memories. It is this memory-prediction system that forms the basis of intelligence, perception, creativity, and even consciousness.

In an engaging style that will captivate audiences from the merely curious to the professional scientist, Hawkins shows how a clear understanding of how the brain works will make it possible for us to build intelligent machines, in silicon, that will exceed our human ability in surprising ways.

Written with acclaimed science writer Sandra Blakeslee, On Intelligence promises to completely transfigure the possibilities of the technology age. It is a landmark book in its scope and clarity.

What people are saying

Review: On Intelligence

User Review  - Josh - Goodreads

Whew, didn't make it through cover to cover. Too much self congratulation, repetition, and text. The entire book could have been 20 pages.

Review: On Intelligence

User Review  - Philippe Dame - Goodreads

What a great and logical theory of the mind. Brilliant.

Contents

• Prologue: 1
• Epilogue: 234
• Bibliography: 247
• Acknowledgments: 253

Popular passages

Page 6 - Everything you know and have learned is stored in this model. The brain uses this memory-based model to make continuous predictions of future events. It is the ability to make predictions about the future that is the crux of intelligence.‎

About the author

Jeff Hawkins is one of the most successful and highly regarded computer architects and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. He founded Palm Computing and Handspring, and created the Redwood Neuroscience Institute to promote research on memory and cognition. Also a member of the scientific board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, he lives in northern California.

Sandra Blakeslee has been writing about science and medicine for The New York Times for more than thirty years and is the co-author of Phantoms in the Brain by V. S. Ramachandran and of Judith Wallerstein's bestselling books on psychology and marriage. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Bibliographic information

• Title: On Intelligence
• Authors: Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee
• Publisher: Macmillan, 2007
• ISBN: 1429900458, 9781429900454
• Length: 272 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Intelligence (AI) & Semantics; Science / Physics / Atomic & Molecular