Kurt Godel

Kurt Gödel , 1906-78, American mathematician and logician, b. Brünn (now Brno, Czech Republic), grad. Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1930). He came to the United States in 1940 and was naturalized in 1948. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, until 1953, when he became professor of mathematics at Princeton Univ. He is best known for his work in mathematical logic, particularly for his theorem (1931) stating that the various branches of mathematics are based in part on propositions that are not provable within the system itself, although they may be proved by means of logical (metamathematical) systems external to mathematics. Gödel shared the 1951 Albert Einstein Award for achievement in the natural sciences with Julian Schwinger, Harvard mathematical physicist. His writings include Foundations of Mathematics (1969).

Bibliography: See H. Wang, Reflections on Kurt Gödel (1987); E. Nagel et al., Gödel's Proof (rev. ed. 2001); R. Goldstein, The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel (2005); P. Yourgrau, A World without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Gödel and Einstein (2005).

Gödel, Kurt (1906–78) US logician, b. Moravia. He is best known for his ‘undecidability’ or ‘incompleteness’ theorem, first published in 1931. Godel's theorem states any axiom-based mathematical system contains statements that can neither be proved or disproved within the system. In 1940, he emigrated to the USA, joining Albert Einstein at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. See also number theory