Peter Smith's Blog, page 143
March 8, 2010
Postcard from Sumner
Some wonderful late summer weather. So much New Zealand, so little time to explore.
March 4, 2010
More Parsons, more Gödel
The paleographer and the managers: a tale of modern times
Brian Leiter's estimable blog has already posted Iain Pears's terrific essay on the KCL cuts as a sign of the times: The palaeographer and the managers. But if you haven't read it, do. It is the best single thing I've read on the subject. (I was much struck by the reference to Djilas when discussing the rise of the new class of university managers, who have expropriated an extraordinarily rapidly inflating amount of public cash into their own pockets. A blast from the past there for those of ...
February 26, 2010
Parsons, Mathematical Thought again — 1
While I'm in Christchurch, we're having a reading group on Charles Parsons's Mathematical Thought and Its Objects. I've blogged about this challenging book before, when we had a reading group in Cambridge. But, with inspiration from new NZ colleagues and some very helpful emails from Charles Parsons himself, I'm having a bash at rewriting (some of) my earlier notes, and trying to come to a better understanding of both the book and the topics it is discussing.
So, for anyone interested, here's...
February 22, 2010
Back to logic
I have to start singing for my supper today, and earning my keep as an Erskine Fellow. This means giving a dozen lectures on Gödel, plus a few talks to various seminars. The Gödel lectures kick off today, and I've started updating/extending the notes to accompany the lectures. The notes are now called — perhaps more honestly — Gödel Without (Too Many) Tears. The first instalment of the new version can be found here, where further episodes will be posted at the rate of two a week for the...
February 20, 2010
Postcard from Arthur's Pass
The guidebooks say that the four hour train journey from Christchurch, up through the Southern Alps over Arthur's Pass and on down to Greymouth is one of the great railway journeys of the world. The guidebooks are right. Especially when the weather is a perfect summer's day.
