Logical Life: A Biography of Kurt Gödel

Author: (Austrian) Casti, (Austrian) Deppoli, translated by Liu Xiaoli, Ye Chuang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-11-01
Features: Kurt G?del was a giant of wisdom. His incompleteness theorems not only changed mathematics but also transformed the entire scientific world and the philosophy built upon this theorem. G?del's theorems shattered the dream that logic would ultimately lead us to understand the entire world, while also raising many challenging questions: What are the limits of rational thinking? Can we fully understand the machines we have created? Can we unravel the workings of our own minds? When there is a lack of logical certainty about their research findings, how do mathematicians continue their work? In this book, we finally meet the person behind these profound thoughts. John Casti and Werner Deppoli describe G?del as a complex figure who was both worldly and reclusive, ambitious and stubborn. As a student during the most culturally and creatively vibrant period of Vienna, G?del was deeply influenced by the language philosopher Wittgenstein. He participated in the activities of the Vienna Circle, discussing with its members the relationship between scientific theories, objective reality, and truth. Later, G?del went to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. There, he became a confidant that Einstein had long sought and was regarded by Einstein as a kindred spirit.
After Einstein's death, G?del refused to eat out of fear of bacterial poisoning and eventually died of starvation. But as Casti and Deppoli clearly demonstrate, G?del's influence is enduring. His work not only brought revolutionary changes to mathematics but also impacted philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and perhaps even cosmology. The existence of truths that can be known but are necessarily unprovable—G?del's conclusion sparked a wave of discoveries and innovations from neural networks to computational theory. The dream of achieving complete, consistent knowledge, and the inexhaustible spirit of humanity—G?del's incompleteness theorems have erected an enduring monument to this.