Kurt Gödel

William D. Brewer was born 1943 in the USA. Educated in Chemistry and Mathematics at Univ. Oregon (Eugene) and Univ. California (Berkeley).  Postdoctoral work in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin and in Orsay, France. Habilitation in experimental physics at the FU Berlin, later University  Professor there.  Research in nuclear and solid-state physics, magnetism on surfaces and in thin films. Visiting scientist at Paris-Sud, IBM Yorktown Heights,  Stanford, CRTBT Grenoble, KU Leuven, Univ. São Paulo, CBPF - Rio de Janeiro. Translations of over 20 scientific works (German to English), work for the  Einstein Papers Project. Co-author of the book “Jayme Tiomno – A Life for Science, a Life for Brazil” in the Springer Biographies series (2020).

“The book is generously illustrated, often with color photographs and diagrams, mostly of individuals mentioned in the book, or of maps and buildings where Gödel lived or stayed … at various periods throughout his life. … anyone interested in a general overview of his biography and broad sketches of his technical works and philosophical/theological views will find this an easy read.” (Joseph W. Dauben, Mathematical Reviews, September, 2023)“This biography of Kurt Gödel is written for a wide audience with a limited mathematical background. … The biography is written in a clear and readable style and is very well researched. I was particularly impressed by the author’s familiarity with all things German. … I strongly recommend this biography to anyone interested in the life (and the work) of Kurt Gödel, whose incompleteness theorems spelled the end of Hilbert’s program.” (Franz Lemmermeyer, zbMATH 1505.01001, 2023)

• Preface.- Prologue.- La Belle Époque in Brünn. Beginnings.- School Days. A New Nation.- Moving to the Capital. Student Life in 1920’s Vienna.- The Wiener Kreis and the Mathematical Colloquium. Graduate work.- Private Life in Vienna.- Gödel’s Doctoral Thesis. The Incompleteness Theorems.- The Mathematician in Vienna. Habilitation.- Matters of Health.- A Sojourn Abroad: 1933/34 – Princeton.- Back to Vienna. The First Breakdown.- ‘Commuting’ between Vienna and Princeton – The Late 1930’s. Marriage.- The Continuum Hypothesis.- Professional Uncertainty. A Long Journey Eastwards.-  Princeton and the IAS – Philosophy, Einstein and von Neumann.  A Bizarre Birthday Present: Gödel‘s Universe.- Reception, Recognition, Honors. Einstein’s Loss. The Professor at Princeton.- The 1960’s: Fame and Seclusion.- Later Years. Philosophy, Cosmology, Logic, Computability.- Gödel’s Legacy – The Lessons of an Unusual Life.- Epilogue.