Reviewed by: Stephen J. Hage
Two of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers, Kurt Gödel and Albert Einstein became friends in 1942. This book describes how intimate that friendship was and how they influenced each other's thinking.
For people interested in...
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Reviewed by: Stephen J. Hage
Two of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers, Kurt Gödel and Albert Einstein became friends in 1942. This book describes how intimate that friendship was and how they influenced each other's thinking.
For people interested in pure mathematics the name Kurt Gödel is as famous as Albert Einstein. His incompleteness theorem shattered the efforts of Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whithead in their attempt to write the definitive tome to end all tomes on mathematics, the Principia Mathematica. The stated goal of the Principia was to tie together everything that was known about mathematics so that it would, once and for all, be complete. Gödel's incompleteness theorem not only demonstrated but proved, mathematically, that such a task was not only folly, it was impossible.
For people interested in physics and relativity, Yourgrau reveals how Gödel brought his formidable mathematical skills to bear on Einstein's work to show that time, as we understand it simply doesn't exist. He deals with the metaphysical and philosophical implications of that in ways that are both lucid and satisfying. But, more than that, he offers insight into the personal aspects of the two men in ways that humanize them by elucidating not only what they did but who they were. Here's an example:
"Physically they were opposites. Gödel, thin to the point of emaciation, hid his spectral body even in the heat of summer in overcoat and scarf. Gaunt, harrowed, and haunted, peering through thick glasses like an owl from another dimension, he could not fail to arouse suspicion. Early in life he had come to the conclusion that the less food one ate the better. This dubious insight he carried out with ruthless consistency, unencumbered by the excess baggage of common sense, a faculty he approached life without.
Einstein, in contrast, whose sanity was never in question, was as satisfied by a good sausage as by a good theorem. He had a taste for solid German cooking, which he consumed with relish, topped off by his omnipresent pipe….Late in life he was the proud owner of a respectable professorial paunch."
Even more satisfying, Yourgaru offers four pages of archival photographs of Gödel with members of his family and other scientific luminaries like Albert Einstein, Rudolph Ladenburg, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Eugene Wigner.
Gödel's insights had philosophical implications that were and are deep and strong but he was vilified by the philosophical establishment.
The book is valuable because it provides insight into the man, his friends and his thoughts on so many different levels.
For people interested in such things this book is a must read.
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