In the summer of 1928, Kurt Gödel (1906-1978) embarked on hisnbsp;logical journey that would bring him world fame in a mere threenbsp;years. By early 1929, he had solved an outstanding problem in logic,nbsp;namely the question of the completeness of the axioms and rulesnbsp;of quantificational logic. He then went on to extend the result tonbsp;the axiom system of arithmetic but found, instead of completeness,nbsp;his famous incompleteness theorem that got published in 1931. It belongsnbsp;to the most iconic achievements of 20th century science andnbsp;has been instrumental in the development of theories of formal languagesnbsp;and algorithmic computability - two essential componentsnbsp;in the birth of the information society.This book explores Gödel's way from an exceptional high-schoolnbsp;student to a firmly established young logician. Essays in Gödel'snbsp;hand from the high school show that his central philosophical andnbsp;scientific convictions were formed early on, before his universitynbsp;studies. Particular emphasis is laid on the course that made Gödelnbsp;one of the foremost logicians of all times. The scientific biography ofnbsp;young Gödel is followed by English translations from Gödel's Germannbsp;Gabelsberger shorthand of all his early preserved notebooksnbsp;on logic and related topics.
