Kurt Godel - a great scientist comparable to Albert Einstein

Einstein once told people that he went to his office at Princeton University just to have the privilege of walking home with Kurt Godel.

In 1933, Einstein came to America and spent the last 25 years of his life in Princeton, New Jersey. Working at the Advanced Research Institute (IAS), he walks daily from the house number 115 Mercer Street to the office.

About a decade later, people around the area saw him walking regularly with a young colleague. They talk to each other in German. Einstein considered the boy on par with him. It was Kurt Godel - a mathematician who found the Imperfection theorem when he was 25 years old.

Godel published the Imperfection Law when he was 25 years old.(Photo: Getty).

The scientific community identified the Imperfection theorem to create the deepest revolution in awareness in the 20th century.

In June 1975, the White House Press Secretary's Office announced President Gerald R. Ford selected a list of people awarded the US National Science Medal. One of them is Austrian-born mathematician Kurt Godel. In addition to the nickname Mr. Why is it set by parents, Godel is also known as the abbreviation God.

In 2000, Time placed him on the list of the 100 most influential people of the century. Godel's Imperfection theorem is considered to be the first discovery of mathematics in the 20th century, on par with Einstein's theory of relativity and Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle.

Godel's youth and the Imperfection theorem

Godel was born on April 28, 1906 in the city of Brno (now Czech). His father was the manager of a large textile factory.

As a child, his parents called him Mr. Why because he used to ask questions. Godel showed his talents early on in his outstanding performance in all subjects, especially Math, language and theology.

At the age of 18, he mastered mathematics at university level. Although pursuing the field of Theoretical Physics at the University of Vienna (Austria), he still listened to lectures on Mathematics and Philosophy. After that, he was attracted to Math logic.

According to Godel, logic is 'a science ahead of all other sciences, containing the fundamental ideas and principles of all science'.

In 1930, he received his doctorate in Mathematics. His doctoral thesis content is called Godel's theorem on completeness. However, that was just the beginning.

A year later, Godel announced the work containing the most important and famous theorems of his life: "About propositions that are not formally determined in the work of Mathematical Principles and related systems. '.

Accordingly, he proved logically that for any axiomatic system strong enough to describe the arithmetic of natural numbers, the following conclusions are always true: 1 / The system cannot be consistent, just enough. 2 / Consistency of axiomatic systems cannot be demonstrated within that system.

That is the basic content of the Imperfection theorem. The imperfection is evident in the existence of propositions that cannot be decided, cannot be proved and cannot be denied. In other words, in Maths there are unknown facts.

Godel's work dealt a great blow to scientificism. It created an unprecedented revolution in Math awareness. The theorem shows that mathematics is as imperfect as any other cognitive system instead of an absolutely certain logical system that most human beings mistakenly think.

In a straightforward way, Godel's Imperfection theorem states that no logical system is perfect to allow us to explain everything. Godel himself said: 'Explaining everything is impossible'.

Commenting on this work in honor of the honorary doctorate award for Godel, Princeton University stated: "His revolutionary work rocked our cognitive foundation of human thinking. ".

Meanwhile, Professor Jonathan David Farley of Stanford University said: "Science of the 20th century was shaken by 3 tsunamis: 1 / Einstein's formula E = mc2 explains the principle of atomic bombs and reason 2 / The discovery of Francis Crick, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin shows that all life originates from double helix; 3 / The discovery of a young Austrian mathematician shows that we do not Now I know for sure 1 is not zero. That mathematician is Kurt Godel ".

In the autumn of 1938, Godel married Adele, a longtime girlfriend who was six years older and had a husband.

Godel and Einstein

After announcing the Imperfection theorem at age 25, Mr. Why write your name on the list of "Immortal stars" in the Mathematical village. That success made Princeton University (New Jersey, USA) keep an eye and invite him to work.

Here, Godel became acquainted with Einstein and the two quickly became close. That was one of the reasons Godel decided to settle and become a US citizen in 1947.

Einstein and Godel became dating couples, often talking together.(Photo: Getty).

According to The New Yorker, people around the region often see Einstein stepping alongside Godel. Every morning, they went to the office together, chatting together in German. In the afternoon, the two of them walked back home together.

In terms of personality and preferences, they are like two opposite sides. While the older, extroverted, positive, cheerful, sociable, and always smiling Einstein, the young Godel seemed introverted, lonely and quiet.

However, Einstein didn't seem to find anyone better than Godel. He even told people that he went to his office at Princeton University "just to have the privilege of walking home with Godel".

Also, another reason might be because Godel is not afraid of Einstein's reputation. Freeman Dyson, a member of Einstein and Godel's research institute, said: "Godel is the only one of his colleagues who walks and talks with Einstein".

After the Imperfection theorem, Godel also achieved many other outstanding successes, especially during his time at Princeton University.

In his later years, Godel's health was not good. After bleeding from duodenal ulcers, he had to adhere to an extremely strict diet that caused severe weight loss. Mrs. Adele, Godel's wife, always followed closely to look after him.

When Godel became paranoid, always suspected of having a plot to poison him, he refused to eat or drink anything except his own preparations.

However, in late 1977, Adele became seriously ill, had to be hospitalized for 6 months and was unable to prepare food for her husband. Eventually, Godel starved to death at Princeton Hospital on January 14, 1978, and was buried at Princeton Cemetery, aged 71 years old. When he died, he weighed only 29kg.