Einstein and Godel
Einstein and Godel's Friendship: A story I came across recently while writing the book on Einstein's philosophy of science
We know Kurt Godel for his groundbreaking math, especially for his 'Incompleteness Theorem'. But the story of his friendship with Einstein is no less interesting.
It was in the halls of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study that the two geniuses formed an unlikely friendship. On the surface, they seemed an odd pair. Einstein radiated a supreme self-confidence and serenity, his wild hair and twinkling eyes the very picture of the benevolent genius; Gödel, by contrast, was rail-thin and nervous. Einstein had little interest in pure mathematics, viewing it merely as a tool to unlock the secrets of the physical world; for Gödel, mathematics was everything.
Yet despite these differences, or perhaps because of them, the two men were drawn to each other. Einstein, along with a few others, took it upon himself to look after the troubled Gödel. He seemed to enjoy Gödel's ability to take an apparently outrageous position and defend it with intricate logical arguments.
Their friendship led to unexpected intellectual fruits. Gödel, inspired by his discussions with Einstein, made a significant discovery in the theory of relativity. He developed what is now known as the "Gödel universe," a solution to Einstein's cosmological equations resulting in a rotating universe with closed timelike loops that allow for the possibility of time travel!
But they also had moments that were pure fun. Like when Einstein burst into his assistant's office, declaring that Gödel had "gone completely mad" for voting for Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.
Perhaps the most famous anecdote of their friendship revolves around Gödel's U.S. citizenship hearing in 1947. Gödel, ever the logician, had detected what he believed to be a flaw in the U.S. Constitution that could theoretically allow for the establishment of a dictatorship. Concerned that Gödel might bring this up during his hearing and jeopardize his citizenship, Einstein and economist Oskar Morgenstern accompanied him to the proceedings.
On the way to the hearing, Einstein tried to distract Gödel with stories, but it was like trying to stop a runaway train with a feather. Fortunately, the judge presiding over the hearing was the same one who had sworn Einstein in as a citizen. When Gödel began his disquisition on the Constitution's logical flaw, the judge quickly made it clear he wasn't interested in the famous mathematician's theoretical concerns.
Despite his worries, Gödel successfully became a U.S. citizen that day. He later described the judge as an "especially sympathetic person," unaware of how close he had come to derailing his own citizenship due to his relentless pursuit of logical perfection.
Their friendship lasted until Einstein's death in 1955. Einstein, with his practical wisdom and social grace, often served as a buffer between Gödel's abstract, uncompromising logic and the messy realities of the world. In return, Gödel's brilliant, if sometimes bewildering, insights seemed to provide Einstein with a form of intellectual stimulation that he perhaps found in few other places. In each other, these two scientists found not just a colleague, but also a friend – someone who could appreciate the unique burdens and joys of possessing a mind that would reshape our understanding of the universe.
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