Conversations with a mathematician math, art, science and the limits of reason : a collection of his most wide-ranging and non-technical lectures and interviews

G. J. Chaitin is at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York. He has shown that God plays dice not only in quantum mechanics, but even in the foundations of mathematics, where Chaitin discovered mathematical facts that are true for no reason, that are true by accident. This book collects his most wide-ranging and non-technical lectures and interviews, and it will be of interest to anyone concerned with the philosophy of mathematics, with the similarities and differences between physics and mathematics, or with the creative process and mathematics as an art. "Chaitin has put a scratch on the rock of eternity." __Jacob T. Schwartz, Courant Institute, New York University,__ __USA__ "(Chaitin is) one of the great ideas men of mathematics and computer science." __Marcus Chown, author of The Magic Furnace, in NEW SCIENTIST__ "Finding the right formalization is a large component of the art of doing great mathematics." __John Casti, author of Mathematical Mountaintops, on Godel,__ __Turing and Chaitin in NATURE__ "What mathematicians over the centuries - from the ancients, through Pascal, Fermat, Bernoulli, and de Moivre, to Kolmogorov and Chaitin - have discovered, is that it ÄrandomnessÜ is a profoundly rich concept." __Jerrold W. Grossman in the MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCER__ Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-3 Lecture — A Century of Controversy over the Foundations of Mathematics....Pages 5-40 Interview by Tor Nørretranders — How to be a Mathematician....Pages 41-50 Interview by Hans-Ulrich Obrist — The Creative Life: Science vs. Art....Pages 51-71 Lecture — Algorithmic Information Theory & the Foundations of Mathematics....Pages 73-89 Interview by Fisher Dilke — Randomness in Arithmetic....Pages 91-94 Interview by Guillermo Martínez — The Reason for My Life....Pages 95-112 Lecture — Undecidability & Randomness in Pure Mathematics....Pages 113-126 Interview by Kate Mullen — Math, Science & Fantasy....Pages 127-141 Interview by Jorge Pontual —Sensual Mathematics....Pages 143-154 Final Thoughts....Pages 155-156 Back Matter....Pages 157-158 The author, G. J. Chaitin, shows that God plays dice not only in quantum mechanics but also in the foundations of mathematics. According to Chaitin there exist mathematical facts that are true for no reason. This fascinating and provocative text contains a collection of his most wide-ranging and non-technical lectures and interviews. It will be of interest to anyone concerned with the philosophy of mathematics, the similarities and differences between physics and mathematics, and mathematics as art. A Century of Controversy over the foundations of mathematics How to be a mathematician The creative life: science vs art Algorithmic information theory and the foundations of mathematics Randomness in arithmetic The reason for my life Undecidability and randomness in pure mathematics Math, science and fantasy Sensual mathematics Final thoughts.