Starting from the basic premise that analogies are the building blocks of thought, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Douglas Hofstadter and French psychologist Emmanuel Sander construct an ambitious new theory about the way the mind works. In Surfaces and Essences they work from the simplest forms (a single word, category, or phrase) to infinitely complex constructions (an idiom, proverb, or algorithm), to show how analogies are the tools our brains use to interpret and master daily life.Hofstadter, known for his singular talent for making complex ideas both accessible and provocatively challenging, and Sander have each made significant contributions to the study of how the mind works. This major work will transform how we think about language, the mind, and intelligence.