Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann; emergence and complexity. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter; recursion. In fiction, Gene Wolfe (Severian) and Doris Lessing

Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann; emergence and complexity. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter; recursion. In fiction, Gene Wolfe (Severian) and Doris Lessing (Shikasta) have rewired a considerable number of my synapses. To this day they tug at my subconscious.