The great math war : how three brilliant minds fought for the foundations of mathematics / Jason Socrates Bardi.
| Author/creator | Bardi, Jason Socrates author. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication | New York, NY : Basic Books, [2025] |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xix, 394 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Portion of title | How 3 brilliant minds fought for the foundations of mathematics |
| Contents | Dramatis Personae -- Preface: Everything My Parents Taught Me About Logic -- 1900 : The Judgment of Paris -- Adventures of a Wooden Puppet : 1883-1884 -- Infinity Loves Company : 1884-1899 -- Guns, Gold, add the Gruesome Math of War : 1899-1902 -- All Cretans Are Liars : 1903-1911 -- The Day of Judgment : 1909-1911 -- Airplanes and Sunshine : 1912-1913 -- Boston Loves Bernie : 1912-1913 -- 1914 : The Sins of August -- Relativity + Turnips : 1915-1916 -- Collective Influenza : 1917-1918 -- All Eyes on Albert Einstein : 1919-1920 -- The Pied Piper of Paradise : 1921-1924 -- Nobody Loves a Revolution : 1924-1928 -- 1928 : The Battle of the Frogs and Mice -- Goodbye to All Math : 1929-1932 -- The Great Migration : 1933-1935 -- ∀Things ∃nd : 1935-1938 |
| Abstract | "As the nineteenth century ended, mathematicians were celebrating a century of triumphs that--surprisingly--made clear how little they knew: What is the nature of infinity? Is math free from self-contradiction? And what does math have to do with reality? This was the Foundational Crisis in mathematics. In The Great Math War, Jason Socrates Bardi tells the story of three competing efforts by mathematicians to resolve it--and the firefight that ensued. Bertrand Russell thought we could achieve certainty if we treated math as an extension of logic. David Hilbert believed redemption lay in accepting mathematics as a formal game of arbitrary rules, no different from the moves and pieces in chess. And L. E. J. Brouwer argued math is entirely rooted in human intuition--and that math is not based on logic but rather logic is based on math. It was a bitter struggle, intellectually and personally, as the three vied to set the course for mathematics in the twentieth century. Set against the backdrop of international warfare unfolding alongside it, The Great Math War brings the Foundational Crisis to radiant life--and shows how it indelibly shaped twentieth-century intellectual life." -- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Biographical note | Jason Socrates Bardi is an award-winning journalist in DC who has written two books about the history of math: The Calculus Wars and The Fifth Postulate. He has published hundreds of articles about modern science and medicine in outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle, Good Morning America, US News & World Report, and The Lancet. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| ISBN | 1541605004 |
| ISBN | 9781541605008 |
| Standard identifier# | CIPO000292185 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | QA8.5 .B37 2025 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |