My Interaction with Kurt Gödel: The Man and His Work
Paul J. Cohen · Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2011
Editors' Note Sadly, Paul Cohen, the only Fields Medal Laureate in the field of logic as of this writing, died on March 23, 2007, shortly after completing this chapter. This is his final published work, which was also reprinted in the revised edition of his book Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis (Dover, 2008; originally published by W. A. Benjamin, 1966). On the centenary of Kurt Gödel's birth in 2006, it was most appropriate to celebrate the man who, more than any other, guided logic out of its philosophical past to become a vibrant part of present-day mathematics. His contributions are so well known, and the recognition he has received is so plentiful, that to recite them here would be extraneous. Rather I have chosen to relate how first his work, and then my interaction with him, affected me so strongly. Let me begin by explaining, and perhaps apologizing for, the somewhat personal tone of my remarks. Since the publication of Gödel's (1986, 1990, 1995, 2003a, 2003b) Collected Works , with their very rich introductions to the various articles, as well as historical material, I can add little of a purely biographical nature to Gödel's mathematical contributions. Thus I shall have to speak mostly about what I know best: my own development and interest in set theory, how the example of Gödel's life work deeply affected me, the story of my own discoveries, and finally, my personal interaction with Gödel when I presented my work to him.