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Above All Waves : wisdom from Tominaga Nakamoto, the philosopher rumored to have inspired bitcoin

Title: Above All Waves : wisdom from Tominaga Nakamoto, the philosopher rumored to have inspired bitcoin / edited , with an introduction and artwork by Paul Chan ; Translation by Yuzo Sakuramoto.
Author: Tominaga, Nakamoto, 1715-1746
Publication: New York : [Badlands Unlimited], [2022]

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFD 23-1051	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

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Description

xlv, 125 pages : illustrations; 22 cm

Summary

This book introduces English readers to the life and ideas of Tominaga Nakamoto (1715-46), an 18th-century maverick Japanese philosopher who is rumored to have been an inspiration for the inventor of Bitcoin, known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. In January 2009, Satoshi released Bitcoin, a decentralized digital cash currency that allows anyone to use and develop its software. The rest is history. The identity of Satoshi remains a mystery to this day. But rumors during the early days of Bitcoin suggest Satoshi was inspired in part by Tominaga Nakamoto, an obscure and largely forgotten "merchant" philosopher from the Edo period in Japan. Tominaga's philosophical and aesthetic ideas are radical even by today's standards. And it is not hard to see how his most vital insights--the need to decentralize authority among them--echo in how Bitcoin functions as a cryptocurrency. Newly translated by the noted translator Yuzo Sakuramoto, Above All Waves distills Tominaga's most audacious writings into a set of quotes and passages that captures the forwarding-thinking quality of his thought. A critical introduction by Paul Chan tells the story of Tominaga's remarkable life and speculates on the rumored relationship between Satoshi and Tominaga, as well as how Tominaga's outlook may have influenced how Bitcoin exists as a technology and cultural phenomenon. Artwork by Chan captures the spirit of Tominaga's world and recasts the philosopher in compositions that express his enduring influence.

Alternative Title

Wisdom from Tominaga Nakamoto, the philosopher rumored to have inspired bitcoin

Subject

Contents

List of artworks -- Above all waters: an introduction / Paul Chan -- Note on translation -- Passages / Tominaga Nakamoto

Call Number

JFD 23-1051

ISBN

9781943263264
1943263264

OCLC

1349462792

Author

Tominaga, Nakamoto, 1715-1746, author.

Title

Above All Waves : wisdom from Tominaga Nakamoto, the philosopher rumored to have inspired bitcoin / edited , with an introduction and artwork by Paul Chan ; Translation by Yuzo Sakuramoto.

Publisher

New York : [Badlands Unlimited], [2022]

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Added Author

Chan, Paul, 1973- editor, author of introduction, artist.

Sakuramoto, Yuzo, translator.

Research Call Number

JFD 23-1051

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