A masterly introduction to the life and thought of the man who transformed our conception of math forever.

Kurt Gödel is considered the greatest logician since Aristotle. His monumental theorem of incompleteness demonstrated that in every formal system of arithmetic there are true statements that nevertheless cannot be proved. The result was an upheaval that spread far beyond mathematics, challenging conceptions of the nature of the mind.

Rebecca Goldstein, a MacArthur-winning novelist and philosopher, explains the philosophical vision that inspired Gödel's mathematics, and reveals the ironic twist that led to radical misinterpretations of his theorems by the trendier intellectual fashions of the day, from positivism to postmodernism. Ironically, both he and his close friend Einstein felt themselves intellectual exiles, even as their work was cited as among the most important in twentieth-century thought. For Gödel , the sense of isolation would have tragic consequences.

This lucid and accessible study makes Gödel's theorem and its mindbending implications comprehensible to the general reader, while bringing this eccentric, tortured genius and his world to life.

About the series:Great Discoveries brings together renowned writers from diverse backgrounds to tell the stories of crucial scientific breakthroughs—the great discoveries that have gone on to transform our view of the world.

世界上有一些人通过改变世界而改变人类，而另有一些人则通过改变人类的思想而改变世界，哥德尔应该算是后者。他被认为是继亚里士多德以后一位最伟大的逻辑学家，而他发现不完全性定理则是现代思想具有划时代意义的大事件。曾有评价说，不了解哥德尔就不了解人类已达到的智力水平与人类智力奋斗的历程。应该说，这个评价绝非言过其实。哥德尔和哥德尔的亲密朋友爱因斯坦都认为他们是智力的流放者，即使他们的工作被认为是20世纪最重要的思想。在此书中，曾获麦克阿瑟学会奖的哲学家Rebecca Goldstein揭示了对于哥德尔的数学具有启发意义的哲学理论，同时也对那些运用更时髦的哲学理论———这包括从实证主义到后现代理论等而对哥德尔的理论所作的诸般曲解加以分析。作者将哥德尔的理论以尽可能清晰明白的语言加以表述，并展示了这位天才人物看似古怪的生活世界。

丽贝卡·戈德斯坦著有五本书，包括《心脑问题》（The Mind-Body Problem）和《光的特性》（Propertise of Light）以及一本短篇小说集《奇怪吸引子》（Strange Attractors）。作为一位哲学教授，她因她的小说和学术成果记赢得了许多荣誉，她还是麦克阿瑟学会成员。