Rucker discusses the thesis that everything is a computation, a more complex form of cellular automata, and what that would mean for philosophy. Along the way, he fills us in with a reasonable background in theories of computation, cellular automata, philosophy, and other computer science and mathematical topics.

From that description, the book may sound a bit dry, but it’s really quite enjoyable and engaging. Rucker starts each chapter with a short short story related to the chapter’s subject matter, and he sprinkles bits of his other (fictional) writing in where appropriate, as well. ( )

Disappointing. Half of it seems a rehash of Wolfram's A New Kind Of Science, and the rest a rehash of other, well-known results. Not much new. ( )

Sometime mathematician Rucker is now a disciple of Stephen Wolfram's universal computationalism (cellular automata, etc). From this standpoint he ruminates at length (564 pp) on computer science, physics, biology, psychology, sociology, and philosophy. www.rudyrucker.com/lifebox/

This is the book I've been waiting for Dr. Rucker to write for twenty years, I just didn't know it. Infinity and the Mind was really good, but Lifebox pulls together the strands of Rucker's works into a nice, fun, typically-Ruckerianly mind-blowing package! ( )