Abstract: 

Does modern pure mathematics make logical sense?? Unfortunately the answer to this difficult question is not as pleasant as we might like. There ARE serious logical weaknesses that most of us would rather ignore. These issues arise with the foundations of set theory and analysis, but extend much further: to topology, modern algebra and differential geometry.

In this talk we will invite the audience to engage in a friendly Socratic exploration of essential questions that examine some of the primary difficulties that we currently find ourselves in. Come prepared to ponder, participate and share in an intellectual adventure. Undergraduates are of course most welcome to join us. Computer scientists might also find this interesting, as many of the issues have a computational aspect.

We will be going to lunch afterwards, so if you can, you might like to join us for that to continue the conversation.

Speaker

Norman Wildberger

Research Area
Affiliation

UNSW

Date

Tue, 04/08/2015 - 12:00pm

Venue

RC-4082, The Red Centre, UNSW