rapaport@cs.Buffalo.EDU (William J. Rapaport) (09/21/88)
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO BUFFALO LOGIC COLLOQUIUM 1988-1989 First Meeting Joint meeting with the Mathematics Colloquium PETER WEIBEL GREGORY MOORE Department of Media Study Department of Mathematics SUNY Buffalo McMaster University KURT GOEDEL: A MATHEMATICAL MYTH (Video Presentation) This is a documentary on the life and ideas of the famous logician Kurt Goedel in a new electronic way. You could call it an MTV-like mathemat- ical report. The video traces Goedel's path from Brno, Czechoslovakia, to Vienna, Austria, to Princeton, USA. It collected all visible docu- ments of Goedel's private life, even his speech on a record. The video displays previously unavailable information on Goedel's life. It includes interviews with Goedel's friends and colleagues. The video also visualizes Goedel's discoveries and embeds them in the mathematical culture of his time, ranging from the Vienna Circle to Tur- ing Machines. The digital effects, normally used in music videos, are exploited to render Goedel's abstract thoughts and concepts on a highly complex level. After the video, there will be critical commentary and further remarks on Goedel's life and achievements by the historian/mathematician Gregory Moore, who is the author of the biography of Goedel for the _Dictionary of Scientific Biography_ and who is one of the editors of the Goedel _Collected Works_. Following the Collquium, there will be a Dutch treat dinner at Wurzburger-Hof at Bailey and Dartmouth Ave. Wednesday, September 28, 1988 4:00 P.M. Wende 316, Main Street Campus Wende Hall is at the south end of the Main Street Campus. It faces Main Street and is across from the Mathematics Library. Metered visitor parking is available in Parker Lot. For further information, contact John Corcoran, (716) 636-2438.