Natalie mentions the Newman & Nagel's text "Gödel's Proof," a
(//the//?) 1958 classic on the subject. [[ 1 ]] Having left IBM
in December 1990, I spent a month with the text, dipping into
mild insanity, taking to strange wines to relieve myself of the
fear that my previous years long study of Whitehead & Russell's
"Principia Mathematica" [[ 2 ]] was useless.
I really appreciate the inclusion of Alvir's statement on
whether or not Gödel thought he proved all logical systems
undecidable and incomplete. About 80% into the article is her
quote:
>> Often people will speak as if the CH is the smoking gun that
>> shows sometimes mathematical questions have no answer. But
>> in my opinion, this situation provides very little evidence
>> that there are “absolutely undecidable” mathematical
>> problems, relative to any given permissible framework.
Though I would have added a reference to Infinitary Logic
[[ 3 ]] after dropping the reference to L-omega-1-omega. I
suspect most readers would find discussion of higher-order and
modern logic a bit confusing without a pause for further study.
But a guide post pointing in the appropriate direction would be
good.
That this is the only critique I have of the article speaks to
Wolchover's skill in communicating complex ideas for a lay
audience. I really liked this article, so thank you @baruchel
for posting the reference to it.
:: References
1. https://search.worldcat.org/title/1543160023
2. https://search.worldcat.org/title/933122838
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitary_logic