Embodiments of mind (Q1594820)

This reviewer was trained, in part, on the biologico-engineering works of W. S. McCulloch and Ross Ashby as taught by Heinz von Foerster, W. S. McCulloch, and Ross Ashby at the University of Illinois, Campaign-Urbana in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The outstanding results and polished prose of McCulloch make an excellent philosophical and experimental supplement to N. Wiener's important contributions on cybernetics. This excellent monograph contains all the major papers of McCulloch (but not some of the experimental lecture notes of this talks): What is a number \dots?; A logical calculus of the ideas \dots; Through the Den of the metaphysician; Why the mind is in the head; etc.. Further, there is an enlightening Preface by McCulloch's close friend Jerry Lettvin. The German translation is faithful and the German prose is excellent (but just short of the Goethe class). Hopefully, future editions of this important work include an (extensive) index.