The Great Mathematical War: How Three Brilliant Minds Fought for the Foundations of Mathematics
24.99 €
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The Great Mathematical War: How Three Brilliant Minds Fought for the Foundations of Mathematics
24.99 €
By the end of the 19th century, mathematicians were celebrating a century of triumphs that, strangely enough, clearly revealed how little they truly knew. What is the nature of infinity? Is mathematics free from internal contradictions? And what relationship does it have to reality? Thus began the Crisis of the Foundations of Mathematics.
In his book, The Great Mathematical War, Jason Socrates Bardi tells the story of three competing attempts to resolve this crisis—and the resulting battle. Bertrand Russell believed that we would achieve certainty if we viewed mathematics as an extension of logic. David Hilbert believed that salvation lay in accepting mathematics as a formal game with arbitrary rules, no different from rearranging chess pieces. And L. E. J. Brouwer argued that mathematics is rooted entirely in human intuition—and that it is not mathematics that is founded on logic, but, conversely, logic that is founded on mathematics.
It was a fierce struggle—both intellectual and personal—in which three geniuses vied for the right to determine the course of scientific development in the 20th century. Set against the backdrop of World War I, "The Great Mathematical War" vividly depicts the "crisis of foundations" and shows how it left an indelible mark on the intellectual life of the entire 20th century.
In his book, The Great Mathematical War, Jason Socrates Bardi tells the story of three competing attempts to resolve this crisis—and the resulting battle. Bertrand Russell believed that we would achieve certainty if we viewed mathematics as an extension of logic. David Hilbert believed that salvation lay in accepting mathematics as a formal game with arbitrary rules, no different from rearranging chess pieces. And L. E. J. Brouwer argued that mathematics is rooted entirely in human intuition—and that it is not mathematics that is founded on logic, but, conversely, logic that is founded on mathematics.
It was a fierce struggle—both intellectual and personal—in which three geniuses vied for the right to determine the course of scientific development in the 20th century. Set against the backdrop of World War I, "The Great Mathematical War" vividly depicts the "crisis of foundations" and shows how it left an indelible mark on the intellectual life of the entire 20th century.
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