Institute For Advanced Study Hosts Program Marking Centenary Year Of Kurt Gödel’s Birth

Kurt Gödel, one of the twentieth century’s most influential thinkers, will be remembered at the Institute for Advanced Study on Friday, November 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. In A Program to Mark the Centenary Year of the Birth of Kurt Gödel, a group of international scholars will discuss Gödel’s life, work and impact across the fields of mathematics, philosophy and computer science.

Gödel was among one of the first Members at the newly-founded Institute for Advanced Study in 1933-34. After two additional stays in the 1930s, he returned to the Institute in 1940 as a permanent Member, and then was appointed to the Faculty in 1953. Gödel was Professor in the School of Mathematics from 1953 until 1976, when he became Professor Emeritus. He remained at the Institute until his death in 1978.

In conjunction with the Institute program, there is an exhibition of posters on display in Fuld Hall illustrating highlights of Gödel’s life and career. The twenty-two posters were created by the University of Vienna in celebration of the centenary of Gödel's birth. This display will be on view through Sunday, December 3. It is open to the public and may be viewed between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The program will commence at 2:00 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall with Karl Sigmund of the University of Vienna, who will discuss Gödel’s Vienna, focusing on his formative years in the city’s so-called Golden Autumn. Solomon Feferman of Stanford University will speak on The Nature and Significance of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems, which permanently changed the face of mathematical logic.

John Burgess of Princeton University will discuss Philosophy’s Gödel Problem. In his talk, Burgess will explore how the mathematician’s work posed a direct challenge to philosophical ideas of his day and continues to pose a challenge today. Avi Wigderson of the Institute for Advanced Study will focus on Kurt Gödel and Computer Science, highlighting the fundamental connections between Gödel’s work and current research in theoretical computer science.

Following a break for tea in the Fuld Hall Common Room, the program will reconvene with John W. Dawson, Jr. of The Pennsylvania State University, who will explore Gödel’s core beliefs in At Odds with the Zeitgeist: Kurt Gödel’s Life and Work. The speakers will then join in a panel discussion, moderated by Juliette Kennedy of the University of Helsinki.

There will be a reception in the Fuld Hall Common Room following the discussion. The program is free and open to the public and reservations are not required. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

For further information about the event, please call 609-734-8175 or email godel-100@ias.edu. Visit the Institute website for information about Gödel's life and work.