{"product_id":"ambigrammia-between-creation-and-discovery-hardcover","title":"Ambigrammia: Between Creation and Discovery - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDouglas Hofstadter\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eScott Kim\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn the history and creation of ambigrams, by a pioneer of the practice\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Spellbinding and truly one-of-a-kind. . . . This is an absolute delight.\"--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the 1960s and 1970s, a trio of imaginative individuals independently discovered that ordinary words and phrases could be given double readings by playfully distorting the letters composing them. These doubly readable words and phrases, if designed by an artistic eye and hand, could possess great visual beauty. Douglas Hofstadter named such calligraphic creations \"ambigrams,\" and over the decades he has designed thousands of them, as have his friends Scott Kim and John Langdon, the other main pioneers of the subtle art form he calls ambigrammia. \u003ci\u003eABCD\u003c\/i\u003e (Hofstadter's informal title for this book) offers a sampler of hundreds of Hofstadter's ambigrams, along with a few dozen by Kim, Langdon, and others. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With deep links to cognitive science, \u003ci\u003eABCD\u003c\/i\u003e exhibits ambigrams of many types and shows how ambigrammia can be extended in surprising directions. All along the way, Hofstadter discusses creativity and its alter ego, \"discoverativity,\" revealing how the \"pocket sized creativity puzzles\" that constitute the art form are pervaded by these complementary qualities. \u003ci\u003eABCD\u003c\/i\u003e is also notably autobiographical: Hofstadter vividly recounts how his life has been intimately intertwined with the creation\/discovery of ambigrams in many countries and in many languages.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDouglas Hofstadter\u003c\/b\u003e is College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor at Indiana University, Bloomington. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003ci\u003eGödel, Escher, Bach\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eFluid Concepts and Creative Analogies\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eLe Ton beau de Marot\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eI Am a Strange Loop\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eSurfaces and Essences\u003c\/i\u003e. Aside from being a cognitive scientist focused on analogy-making, he is engaged in art, music, and translation. \u003cb\u003eScott Kim\u003c\/b\u003e (scottkim.com) is a puzzle creator and graphic designer who has been making ambigrams since the 1970s. His 1981 book \u003ci\u003eInversions: A Catalog of Calligraphic Cartwheels\u003c\/i\u003e was the first book of ambigrams ever published. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.29 x 9.85 x 7.17 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 22, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44814828896358,"sku":"9780300275438","price":48.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/6IGWK2AsLS9780300275438.webp?v=1771847545","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/ambigrammia-between-creation-and-discovery-hardcover","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}