Description
Kurt Gödel was an intellectual giant. His Incompleteness Theorem turned not only mathematics but also the whole world of science and philosophy on its head. Shattering hopes that logic would, in the end, allow us a complete understanding of the universe, Gödel's theorem also raised many provocative questions: What are the limits of rational thought? Can we ever fully understand the machines we build? Or the inner workings of our own minds? How should mathematicians proceed in the absence of complete certainty about their results? Equally legendary were Gödel's eccentricities, his close friendship with Albert Einstein, and his paranoid fear of germs that eventually led to his death from self-starvation. Now, in the first book for a general audience on this strange and brilliant thinker, John Casti and Werner DePauli bring the legend to life.
Author: John L. Casti, Werner Depauli
Publisher: Westview Publishing
Published: 09/01/2001
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.58lbs
Size: 8.04h x 5.56w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9780738205182
ISBN10: 0738205184
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
- Mathematics | History & Philosophy
- Science | History
About the Author
John L. Casti, a member of the faculty of both the Santa Fe Institute and the Technical Unviersity of Vienna, has written numerous acclaimed popular scinece books, including Would-be Worlds, Five Golden Rules, and The Cambridge Quintet.