In 1942, the logician Kurt Godel and Albert Einstein became close friends; they walked to and from their offices every day, exchanging ideas about ...
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Sep 03, 2008
Alex
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This was an amusing and fairly light read. It aims to be a kind of popularization, presenting the intellectual and personal connections between Einstein and Godel. Its main substantive focus is Godel's argument for the conclusion that Einstein's physical theory implies a kind of idealism about time. Yourgrau aims at a rehabilitation of Godel's post-incompleteness intellectual labor. The substantive discussion is good -- though somewhat incomplete. (For a more strictly theoretical discussion
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Feb 11, 2012
Mike
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Maybe I'm a sap for unlikely friendship stories, or maybe I am just that fascinated with all things Godel.
Kurt Godel is a man whom next to nobody has heard of. A 20th century math logician caught in the Nazi drive to rid the world of Jews (he was not Jewish, but he was smart, and that was enough to implicate you in the deep and thoughtful Nazi mind...OK? *rolls eyes*). His eventual emigration to the United States landed him at Princeton where Einstein already had settled. Einstein was a More...
Kurt Godel is a man whom next to nobody has heard of. A 20th century math logician caught in the Nazi drive to rid the world of Jews (he was not Jewish, but he was smart, and that was enough to implicate you in the deep and thoughtful Nazi mind...OK? *rolls eyes*). His eventual emigration to the United States landed him at Princeton where Einstein already had settled. Einstein was a More...
Jan 24, 2011
Fraser
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A very good book, but with some limitations. It's pretty clear that this was written by a philosopher, rather than a mathematician. Yourgrau shows it in his explanation of Godel's incompleteness theorems: rather than work through Godel numbering, recursive furmulae, etc., we get a more philosophical illustration of the Incompleteness theorem, which comes out less robust. In fact, I'd have an awful hard time understanding what Yourgrau was saying if I hadn't already studied Godel's work elsewhere
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Sep 04, 2010
Angjelin
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The book is badly written and I do not recommend it to anyone. I do not recommend it to people interested in the subject because it never properly delves into it. It is too distilled with biographical trivia to hold interest in the subject matter it purports to explicate. it is badly structured in the sense that the author has no intuitive sense of how to blend biographical data with philosophical discussion. You realize from the first paragraph what kind of book it is going to be when the autho
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Jul 11, 2009
Alan
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A World Withouit Philosophers
... will be the most appropriate legacy of Kurt Goedel.
READ THIS BOOK for an accessible and entertaining summary of Goedel's important contributions to mathematical logic, his troubled life, and the shamefully defensive response of professional philosophy.
DON'T READ IT for insights into Einstein (a very minor part of the story) or the nature of time.
The title of Palle Yourgau's book A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of More...
... will be the most appropriate legacy of Kurt Goedel.
READ THIS BOOK for an accessible and entertaining summary of Goedel's important contributions to mathematical logic, his troubled life, and the shamefully defensive response of professional philosophy.
DON'T READ IT for insights into Einstein (a very minor part of the story) or the nature of time.
The title of Palle Yourgau's book A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of More...
Apr 16, 2010
Ed
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In the annals of twentieth century physical and mathematical thought there were a series of crises, and as a result of those crises, in many cases some kind of limitative result was derived.
Two of the figures involved in these results became deep friends in their late years at Princeton: the voluble Einstein and the strange reclusive Gödel, and this book dwells on the development of their philosophical views and the outcomes of some of that thought in the late work of Kurt Gödel. More...
Two of the figures involved in these results became deep friends in their late years at Princeton: the voluble Einstein and the strange reclusive Gödel, and this book dwells on the development of their philosophical views and the outcomes of some of that thought in the late work of Kurt Gödel. More...
Jun 05, 2010
Keith
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I read this book and "Incompleteness" by Rebecca Goldstein at the same time. They are both quite good books and, as written by academic philosophers, generally mitigate my general negative opinion of academic philosophy. If you are interested in Goedel's ideas about "time travel" then this is your book. (It's actually not a "Star Trek" type concept, as Yourgrau makes clear.) If you are more interested in the proof itself, read Goldstein, who goes into more deta
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Sep 10, 2010
Jose
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This book confirms my suspicion, time doesn't exist. It was interesting how the bulk of the book seemed to be about the friendship of Godel and Einstein and thier eccentric personalities. The actual physics of time and relativity kind of took a backseat to this human element, which wasn't necessarily bad. The entire book leaves hints about how Godel and even Einstein thought that maybe time was an illusion created by our brains somehow. They never come right out and say this but it is implie
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Feb 18, 2011
Sander
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First and foremost, this book is an attempt by the author to vindicate Gödel as an important philosopher of the 20th century. However, it is not until the final chapter of the book that Yourgrau finally gets around to this. It is a pity that he does not elaborate on the concept of a world without time as it occurs in a Gödel universe (and therefore also in our universe), or on Gödel's arguments. The explanation of the incompleteness theorem was very clear and well-written, whereas this lucidity
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Apr 28, 2008
I was so offended by how bad this book was I actually burnt it. I would not wish to inflict this book on anyone.
Let's start by getting some basic facts straight:
1) Both Godel and Einstein were geniuses who made very fundamental contributions at a rather young age. Godel made one major contribution and Einstein made several contributions including his phD which is one of the most cited papers in physics - it is the use of diffusion in hot liquids to measure a certain con More...
Let's start by getting some basic facts straight:
1) Both Godel and Einstein were geniuses who made very fundamental contributions at a rather young age. Godel made one major contribution and Einstein made several contributions including his phD which is one of the most cited papers in physics - it is the use of diffusion in hot liquids to measure a certain con More...
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Sep 20, 2007
Rob
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when Kurt Godel died, he weighed 65 pounds. quite possibly the greatest genius ever had become super-crazy and basically starved himself to death due to extreme hypochondria and paranoia. the personal lives and struggles of geniuses are generally interesting to learn about, but come on, aren't their brilliant thoughts much more interesting?
i guess the author wrote a book in 1999 on the same subject, aimed at academic philosophers. then a publisher convinced him to take that book More...
i guess the author wrote a book in 1999 on the same subject, aimed at academic philosophers. then a publisher convinced him to take that book More...
Aug 29, 2010
Earl
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Interesting anecdotes and a fair version of the first Incompleteness Theorem, but Yourgrau really does seem to be one of those philosophers Feynman warned you about. The misinterpretations of physics verge on the deliberate in his attempt to defend a string of casuistic fumblings derived from incomplete cosmological models. The physical errors are perhaps forgivable, but resorting to modal arguments is pathetic, especially in "defense" of the greatest logician of the twentieth century.
Oct 30, 2011
John E.
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Read as research for a play about suicide: Kurt Gödel essentially starved himself to death. Illuminating for its portrayal of the friendship of Gödel and Einstein as well as its discussions of their work in physics and logic, especially where that pertains to the question of time--if Gödel's 1947 paper is correct (and according to this book no error has yet been found in its reasoning), then time as we think of it does not exist.
Aug 07, 2011
Adam
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A history of the often unknown relationship between two of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Gödel, one of the most ground-breaking mathematicians in history, friend to Einstein, without equivocation the most famous of all physicists. A great story of the lives of incredibly insightful and innovative men, how they interact with each other, and how they interact with us lower life forms.
Jun 30, 2009
Ginn
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Although the first few chapters were only mildly interesting (like another reviewer said, you could tell where the inclusion of random 'human interest' type segments was forced), overall it was intriguing. The best chapters were the last three, in which Godel's theory about time is addressed. The very last chapter holds a scathing rebuttal to those who criticise Godel's philisophical achievements.
In general, I'm glad I found this book because Godel's notion that intuitive time does n More...
In general, I'm glad I found this book because Godel's notion that intuitive time does n More...
Feb 26, 2011
Sam
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Gödel showed that there were solutions to Einstein's equations in which there is no way to define a universal time.
Sep 24, 2011
Stephen
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I enjoyed the book.. perhaps the best thing I took away from it is to not get too obsessed with logic.
Sep 18, 2010
Mike
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Pretty deep philosophy of/and science. Not a light read but interesting.
Sep 28, 2009
Isabelle
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Absolutely phenomenal look at Godel's influence on modern science and his response to Einstein's SR and GR (which contain his theories on SR and GR not allowing for an intuitive notion of flowing time). Amazing insight into the logical positivist movement and Godel's incompleteness theorem, which Yourgrau explains in succinctly (as succinct as it can possibly get) and clearly. Also is a wonderful look at both Godel and Einstein as men and their friendship. Highly recommend it to anyone who quest
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Feb 03, 2010
Rob
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An interesting discussion on the impacts on the Positivist school of philosophy of Godel's later researches into General Relativity while at the Institute for Advanced Studies. More interesting still were the biographical anecdotes about Godel.
Apr 07, 2008
George
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Way over my head. maybe I am not smart enough to delve into the realm of positivism and idealism as wells as epistemology.
I have problems understanding the theory of relativity, let alone trying to understand all the other competing theories.
I have problems understanding the theory of relativity, let alone trying to understand all the other competing theories.
Mar 15, 2007
Jafar
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Godel, on the occasion of Einstein's 70 birthday, gives him a solution of his equations in which, under certain circumstances, time becomes circular.... Does that sound like a mathematical proof for Nietzsche's eternal recurrence?
Feb 05, 2012
Feb 03, 2012
