Collected Works: Volume I: Publications 1929-1936 (Collected Works of Kurt Godel) [Hardcover]

Kurt Gďż1/2del (Author), Solomon Feferman (Editor), John W. Dawson Jr. (Editor), Stephen C. Kleene (Editor), Gregory H. Moore (Editor), Robert M. Solovay (Editor), Jean van Heijenoort (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195039645 | ISBN-13: 978-0195039641 | Publication Date: January 23, 1986 | Edition: First Printing

Kurt G�del (1906-1978) was the most outstanding logician of the twentieth century, noted for G�del's theorem, a hallmark of modern mathematics. The Collected Works will include both published and unpublished writings, in three or more volumes. The first two volumes will consist essentially of G�del's published works (both in the original and translation), and the third volume will feature unpublished articles, lectures, and selections from his lecture courses, correspondence, and scientific notebooks. All volumes will contain extensive introductory notes to the work as a whole and to individual articles and other material, commenting upon their contents and placing them within a historical framework. This long-awaited project is of great significance to logicians, mathematicians, philosophers and historians.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"G�del would probably have been pleased with the systematic and neat presentation. The set should be of interest to professionals and students in the areas of logic, mathematics, [and] philosophy....For all university level libraries and for large public and college library collections....Will also be a treasure in the hands of the individual who can afford and understand a good part of the contents." --New Technical Books, The New York Public Library

"The editors are to be wholeheartedly congratulated on bringing to the public work which deserves careful study and which ought to do something to revitalise the philosophy of mathematics by presenting a point of view that, unusually, combines intellectual rigour with a willingness to make bold and sweeping metaphysical claims." --The Times Higher Education Supplement

"Should find a place in all academic libraries where mathematical logic is taught....The editors deserve the highest praise for the design of the edition."--Choice

"Anyone interested in the life and work of Kurt G�del, or in the history of mathematical logic in this century, is indebted to all of the contributors to this volume for the care with which they have presented G�del's work. They have succeeded in using their own expertise to elucidate both the nature and significance of what G�del and, in turn, mathematical logic have accomplished in this century."--Isis

"A marvel of selfless scholarly teamwork. Under the leadership of Solomon Feferman, many of the world's most eminent logicians and historians of logic have pooled their talents to produce lucid and informative introductions, helpful notes, and clear facing-page translations. It is no small tribute to G�del to recognize that he deserves this coordination of patient work by brilliant scholars. Equally, it is no small tribute to those who have worked on this volume to say that their efforts are worthy of their subject." --Times Literary Supplement

"From the example of this first volume, the edition promises to be a model of its kind; virtually nothing could be bettered....The whole is beautifully produced...the translations are clear and accurate....Anyone interested in mathematical logic must...wish to own this first volume of [G�del's] collected works, which is a worthy tribute to a great man. Feferman and his team are to be congratulated on the care, sureness of touch, and scholarly accuracy with which they have carried out their task, and we must look forward to the appearance of the subsequent volumes."--Mind

"Beautifully prepared, meticulously edited collection." --The Journal of Symbolic Logic

"The publication of this book is a significant scientific event not only in mathematical logic...but also in formal computing systems, recursive computing theory, and the possibility and limits of mechanical theorem proving...This volume is a splendid text. The original German and an excellent English translation are printed on facing pages. The introductory notes add much to the reader's understanding of the primary material, and the list of editors and contributors reads like a Who's Who of modern logic. The bibliographic references are extensive and worth explaining in themselves; they probably constitute a guide to the subject in their own right...it is an opportunity to experience firsthand the complexity, elegance, and rigor of one of the great minds of the twentieth century. I look forward to coming volumes."--Computing Reviews

"Both books are models of what scholarly editions of this kind should be like. . .no one working in logic or in the philosophy of mathematics should be without their own copies." --Philosophia Mathematica

"The writing throughout exemplifies the clarity, care and incisiveness for which its author is renowned. This is a stimulating book that can be read and reread with intellectual pleasure and profit."--Modern Logic

Language Notes

Text: English, German

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 490 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Printing edition (January 23, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195039645
• ISBN-13: 978-0195039641
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,942,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Horror!, November 15, 2006

By 

Christopher Grant (Salem, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Collected Works: Volume I: Publications 1929-1936 (Collected Works (Oxford)) (Paperback)

I thought I should post a brief note to prevent other potential buyers from being misled by the editorial reviews the way I was. _Choice_ says that the editors "deserve the highest praise for the design of the edition." _Mind_ says it is "beautifully produced". _The Journal of Symbolic Logic_ calls it "beautifully prepared". _Zentralblatt_ says that it "was published in a very nice and careful way".

It is reasonable to interpret these statements as referring, at least in part, to the physical appearance of the book; under that interpretation, it is my opinion that these statements couldn't be more wrong. It looks like the volume was printed in the cheapest way possible, and the page layout is amateurish at best.

It is a pity that Oxford University Press hasn't seen fit to publish an edition whose physical beauty is commensurate with the beauty of Godel's ideas.