On Intelligence

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.

杰夫·霍金斯(Jeff Hawkins)，成功的计算机工程师和企业家，掌上型电脑PalmPilot、智能电话Treo等产品的发明人。他创建了两家大名鼎鼎的公司——Palm Computin和Handspring，成立了致力于对记忆和认知研究的“红杉”神经系统科学研究所，同时，也是Cold Spring Harbor实验室科学委员会的一名成员。

最后，霍金斯及其合伙人又宣布成立Numenta（源自拉丁语，意为“头脑”）公司，旨在把《人工智能的未来》一书中关于大脑的理论转化为实用技术。

桑德拉·布拉克斯莉(Sandra Blakeslee)，《纽约时报》科普专栏作家，著有多部畅销科普作品。