In Our Time: Science

Godel's Incompleteness Theorems


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an iconic piece of 20th century maths - Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems. In 1900, in Paris, the International Congress of Mathematicians gathered in a mood of hope and fear. The edifice of maths was grand and ornate but its foundations, called axioms, had been shaken. They were deemed to be inconsistent and possibly paradoxical. At the conference, a young man called David Hilbert set out a plan to rebuild the foundations of maths – to make them consistent, all encompassing and without any hint of a paradox. Hilbert was one of the greatest mathematicians that ever lived, but his plan failed spectacularly because of Kurt Gödel. Gödel proved that there were some problems in maths that were impossible to solve, that the bright clear plain of mathematics was in fact a labyrinth filled with potential paradox. In doing so Gödel changed the way we understand what mathematics is and the implications of his work in physics and philosophy take us to the very edge of what we can know.With Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Wadham College, University of Oxford; John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Geometry and Philip Welch, Professor of Mathematical Logic at the University of Bristol.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our Time: ScienceBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

674 ratings


More shows like In Our Time: Science

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,413 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,856 Listeners

F1: Chequered Flag by BBC Radio 5 Live

F1: Chequered Flag

790 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,813 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,205 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

108 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

312 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,776 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,065 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

340 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

960 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,076 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,055 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,891 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

586 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

276 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

854 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

243 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

359 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

397 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

766 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

762 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,034 Listeners