Als Einstein und Gödel spazieren gingen
Ausflüge an den Rand des Denkens
Legendary among physicists and mathematicians, the campus walks at Princeton connected the nearly 70-year-old Albert Einstein with the 25-year-younger mathematician Kurt Gödel. Both figures revolutionized their fields, transcending boundaries and revealing new insights. Gödel chose to focus solely on mathematical problems with philosophical dimensions, making him a kindred spirit to Jim Holt, a philosopher and mathematician who explores profound questions and those dedicated to them. In this narrative, Holt recounts their friendship while also chronicling the revolutionary intellectual upheavals of the 20th century. The book includes 22 additional stories and reflections, written in beautifully crafted language enriched with biographical and cultural anecdotes. Holt addresses the "most exciting intellectual achievements" he has encountered, touching on cosmological thinking about time and space, infinity in both the vast and the minute, the rise of the computer age, the code of life, and the nature of truth. At times, science and philosophy take center stage, while at others, the extraordinary stories of significant figures are captivatingly told by Holt, blending depth, intimacy, and a unique personal perspective.