Biography of Kurt Gödel
Kurt Gödel is a well-known mathematician and philosopher from Austria.
Childhood
Kurt Gödel was born on April 28, 1906 in Brno, Austria-Hungary. He was the second son of the manager of the textile factory Rudolf Gödel and the German Marianne Handshuh. Kurt Gödel’s brother, Rudolf II Gödel, who was named after his father, was a well-known doctor at the time, who helped Kurt when he grew up. Little Kurt was called “why” for his curiosity. From 1912 to 1916 Kurt studied at the Evangelical People’s School, and later continued his studies at the German State Gymnasium in 1916-1924, which he graduated with honors in languages and mathematics. At the age of 14, when his brother left to receive medical education in Vienna, Kurt’s interest in mathematics intensified. Kurt Gödel suffered from acute rheumatism as a child, but there is an opinion that he convinced himself that he had a weak heart, After he read the medical guide. This fact
Career
In 1923, at the age of 18, Gödel entered the University of Vienna, where he chose the course of theoretical physics. In addition to physics, Gödel also showed interest in mathematics and philosophy. He attended lectures on number theory, which was read by Professor Philippe Furtwangler. Thanks to these lectures, he decided to seriously engage in mathematics. As a child, Gödel studied shorthand for the Gabelsberg system, Goethe’s book “On the theory of flowers” and the works of Immanuel Kant. Gödel actively participated in the activities of the Vienna Circle – the association of philosophers, headed by Moritz Schlick. Later, when Gödel had an interest in mathematical logic, he studied the book “Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy” written by Bertrand Russell. Gödel studied mathematics and logic together with Hans Khan and Karl Menger, and in 1929 he finished writing his doctoral dissertation, led by Hans Khan. After receiving his doctorate in 1930,
Work and achievements
Kurt Gödel wrote two scientific works, even when he was not 25 years old, which gave him world recognition. One of these works was the “Incomplete Theorem”, which brought immense popularity. This theorem, now called the Gödel theorem, has the following formulation: “if the formal system S is consistent, then the formula A is not deducible in S. If the system S is w-consistent, then the formula A is not deducible in S. Thus, if the system S w – it is incomplete and A serves as an example of an unsolvable formula. ” Gedel published his incompleteness theorems in 1931 in the publication “Uber Formal unentscheidbare Satze der Principia Mathematica”.
In 1934, Gödel came to Princeton University, where at the Institute for Advanced Studies he read a series of lectures with the theme “Unresolvable Propositions of Formal Mathematical Systems.” After that, Gödel came to the Institute of Advanced Studies more than once in 1935, and as a result he became quite close with Einstein and Morgenstern. Frequent trips affected his health, and he decided to take a break, returning to teaching at the university in 1937.
When Hitler abolished his post as a freelance lecturer, Gedel had to get a job at the University of Vienna anew. But he was refused, and the reason for his refusal was the presence of his Jewish friends. In 1939, Gödel left Vienna because of the riots associated with the outbreak of World War II. Gedel and his wife moved to the United States, where Gedelya was offered the place of a teacher at the Institute for Advanced Studies.
During the time of teaching at the institute, Gödel improved his state of health and he even published his work with the title “Compatibility of the axiom of choice and the generalized continuum hypothesis with the axioms of set theory”.
In 1951, Gedel was first awarded the “Albert Einstein Award”, which consisted of a gold medal and a monetary reward. In 1974, in the White House, Herald Ford, the US president, awarded Gödel with the “National Scientific Medal of the United States” in the field of mathematics and computer technology. The award was presented for “the initial contribution to the modern prospectively developing study of mathematical logic.”
Personal life
In 1929, Gödel met with Adel Nymburski. She was 21 years old, she was six years older than Gödel and was already divorced. Knowing about Adele’s life before her acquaintance with Gödel, his parents were against their relationship. But despite the disapproval of the parents, the couple got married in the autumn of 1938, and in the summer of 1942 they spent at the Blue Hill Inn in Maine.
Gödel’s father, Rudolf Gödel, died in 1929, the same year when his son submitted his doctoral thesis on axioms for examination. His mother bought a new villa in Vienna and moved there to live with two sons. It was in Vienna that Gedel fell in love with the opera. Gödel was considered a Jew because of the large number of clever Jewish friends with whom he spent his time.
Once on the street, when he was walking with his wife Adele, he was attacked by a group of young people who considered him a Jew.
Late years and death
In 1933, Gödel moved to the United States because of the intensified persecution of the Nazis in Germany. He was shocked when his close friend Moritz Schlick was killed by a Nazi student. In the US, Giedel met Albert Einstein, with whom they became good friends. During his stay in the US Gedel became interested in studying recursive functions, and even read a report on them at the annual meeting of the American Mathematical Society. And while teaching at the Institute for Advanced Studies, after reading the books of Gottfried Leibniz, he also became interested in philosophy and physics.
Despite the fact that Gödel became a full member of the Institute for Advanced Studies in 1946, he was denied the American citizenship by Judge Phillip Forman. Over the years, Gödel became so involved in religion that he presented his elaborate version of “Ontological Evidence of the Existence of God”, written by Leibniz.
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