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

705 ratings


More shows like In Our Time: Science

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,697 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

890 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,063 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,541 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,797 Listeners

HistoryExtra podcast by Immediate

HistoryExtra podcast

3,250 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,881 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

869 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

607 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

285 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,763 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,036 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,922 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

498 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

424 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

308 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

760 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

234 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

363 Listeners

Death in Ice Valley by BBC World Service

Death in Ice Valley

2,735 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,167 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,392 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,003 Listeners