Exact thinking in demented times
by Karl Sigmund · first published 2017
8mentions
4recommended by
6HN commenters
2018–2026first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
The philosophy of science between the two world wars, 1920s-1930s.
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…through the developments in all these fields, which makes studying this place and time a uniquely rich intellectual experience. Of particular interest to the HN crowd may be a recent book by Karl Sigmund, Exact Thinking In Demented Times, which documents the rise and decline of the Viennese Circle, a group of physicists, mathematicians and philosophers who changed the course of maths and science. Mach, Boltzmann, Einstein, Russell, Gödel,…
on “Thomas Bernhard, Karl Kraus, and Other Vienna-Hating Viennese” ↗There's also a good recent book by Karl Sigmund called "Exact Thinking in Demented Times" which is about the Logical Positivists in Vienna during this period (and the later interwar period) which included Wittgenstein.
on “Friedrich Hayek’s recollection of his cousin Ludwig Wittgenstein (2016)” ↗May I add my two cents? I really enjoyed reading "Exact thinking in demented times" by Karl Sigmund. One of my favorite non-fiction books.
on “The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years” ↗Forgot to mention another book: Karl Sigmund, Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science. A really beautiful book with lots of photographies of all members of the Vienna circle and what happened to them. Some parts, of…
on “Von Neumann, Einstein, Morgenstern, Morse and Lefschetz (1952)” ↗Exact thinking in demented times by Karl Sigmund
on “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” ↗If I remember correctly, this picture is commented in the very good book "Exact thinking in demented times", together with Mach's ideas.
on “Self-Portrait by Ernst Mach (1886)” ↗…some basic calculus. Highly recommended - it made me want to learn old fashioned celestial mechanics! Perhaps in 2019... Randall Munroe - What if. A fun light read about whimsical scenarios. Sigmund - Exact thinking in demented times. About the vienna circle, the philosophical group associated with logical positivism. Newman [ed] - The world of mathematics vol 1. A varied Collection of mathematical writings, both contemporary and…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…flaw in Gödel's incompleteness proof, while the number of legitimate new results these days is very small. So any community that could discuss it productively would have to be invitation-only. The book "Exact Thinking in Demented Times" by Karl Sigmund talks about how the Vienna Circle (where many of the seminal results originated) had to carefully manage the guest list at their meetings. For a field like logic where the important…
on “Ask HN: Subreddits like HN” ↗