Gödel's proof
By: by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman ; edited and with a new foreword by Douglas R. Hofstadter.
Contributors: Newman, James Roy, 1907-1966.; Hofstadter, Douglas R., 1945-
Edition: Rev. ed.
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 129
Subjects: Gödel's theorem
Description: "In 1931 Kurt Godel disrupted some of the fundamental assumptions underlying mathematics and logic with the publication of his revolutionary paper, "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems." Ironically, few mathematicians of the time were able to understand the young scholar's complex proof, and the full importance of this work was largely overlooked for many years. Godel was at last recognized by his peers and presented with the first Albert Einstein Award in 1951 for achievement in the natural sciences - the highest honor of its kind in the United States. The award committee, which included Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, described his work as "one of the greatest contributions to the sciences in recent times."" "In Godel's Proof, Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and non-technical explanation for both scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of Godel's discovery. First published in 1958 and in print continuously in ten languages, this highly popular, seminal work offers every educated person with an interest in mathematics, logic, and philosophy the opportunity to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 125) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Foreword to the New Edition by Douglas R Hofstadter ix; title: Acknowledgments xxiii; title: i Introduction I; title: II The Problem of Consistency 7; title: inI Absolute Proofs of Consistency 25; title: iv The Systematic Codification of Formal Logic 37; title: v An Example of a Successful Absolute Proof of; title: Consistency 45; title: vI The Idea of Mapping and Its Use in Mathematics 57; title: vii G6del's Proofs 68; title: A Godel numbering 68; title: B The arithmetization of meta-mathematics 80; title: c The heart of Godel's argument 92; title: vIII Concluding Reflections 109; title: Appendix: Notes 114; title: Brief Bibliography 125; title: Index 127.