There's Something About Godel!: The Complete Guide to the Incompleteness Theorem - Hardcover

Berto, Francesco

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405197668 ISBN 13: 9781405197663

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009

Synopsis

Berto's highly readable and lucid guide introduces students and the interested reader to Godel's celebrated Incompleteness Theorem , and discusses some of the most famous - and infamous - claims arising from Godel's arguments. Offers a clear understanding of this difficult subject by presenting each of the key steps of the Theorem in separate chapters Discusses interpretations of the Theorem made by celebrated contemporary thinkers Sheds light on the wider extra-mathematical and philosophical implications of Godel's theories Written in an accessible, non-technical style

About this title

Review:

"There's Something about G]odel is a bargain: two books in one. The first half is a gentle but rigorous introduction to the incompleteness theorems for the mathematically uninitiated. The second is a survey of the philosophical, psychological, and sociological consequences people have attempted to derive from the theorems, some of them quite fantastical." (Philosophia Mathematica, 2011)

"There is a story that in 1930 the great mathematician John von Neumann emerged from a seminar delivered by Kurt Gödel saying: 'It's all over.' Gödel had just proved the two theorems about the logical foundations of mathematics that are the subject of this valuable new book by Francesco Berto. Berto's clear exposition and his strategy of dividing the proof into short, easily digestible chunks make it pleasant reading ... .Berto is lucid and witty in exposing mistaken applications of Gödel's results ... [and] has provided a thoroughly recommendable guide to Gödel's theorems and their current status within, and outside, mathematical logic." (Times Higher Education Supplement, February 2010)

From the Back Cover:

There's Something About Gödel is a lucid and accessible guide to Gödel's revolutionary Incompleteness Theorem, considered one of the most astounding argumentative sequences in the history of human thought. It is also an exploration of the most controversial alleged philosophical outcomes of the Theorem.

Divided into two parts, the first section introduces the reader to the Incompleteness Theorem - the argument that all mathematical systems contain statements which are true, yet which cannot be proved within the system. Berto describes the historical context surrounding Gödel's accomplishment, explains step-by-step the key aspects of the Theorem, and explores the technical issues of incompleteness in formal logical systems. The second half, The World After Gödel, considers some of the most famous - and infamous - claims arising from Gödel's theorem in the areas of the philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, Artificial Intelligence, and even sociology and politics.

This book requires only minimal knowledge of aspects of elementary logic, and is written in a user-friendly style that enables it to be read by those outside the academic field, as well as students of philosophy, logic, and computing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1405197668
• ISBN 13: 9781405197663
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256