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It never stops to amaze me how many of the creative and destructive forces of the 20th century originated in Vienna. The writer of this piece concentrates on li

It never stops to amaze me how many of the creative and destructive forces of the 20th century originated in Vienna. The writer of this piece concentrates on literature, but one could as easily concentrate on music, art, politics, philosophy, math or natural science. What’s more, there were common themes running 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, Wittgenstein, Neurath, Carnap, Von Neumann, Schlick, etc. etc. The interconnections will dazzle you and the place that holds the whole web together is Vienna.

gliboc 8y ago
I disagree with the thought that the Vienna circle had anything to do with the course of math and science. They were mostly philosophers, with fewer scientists if you look closely, and their contribution was to philosophy, not science. Also: they had no direct link with Einstein's work (he conducted his research decades before they even existed), he only attended some of their meetings. I'm also pretty sure Von Neumann had nothing to do with them, same for Boltzmann (who was dead).
- kieckerjan 8y ago
  I agree that the impact on philosophy was probably far greater than on science and math, but the fact is that several prominent mathematicians (most notably Gödel) were part of the group. One can of course argue whether e.g. Gödels achievements had anything to do with his being a member. As to your second remark, I did not mean to imply that the people listed were all members. They were not. But they did have affiliations with members of the group (personal and professional) and they are all discussed in the book.

gliboc 8y ago

I disagree with the thought that the Vienna circle had anything to do with the course of math and science. They were mostly philosophers, with fewer scientists if you look closely, and their contribution was to philosophy, not science. Also: they had no direct link with Einstein's work (he conducted his research decades before they even existed), he only attended some of their meetings. I'm also pretty sure Von Neumann had nothing to do with them, same for Boltzmann (who was dead).

kieckerjan 8y ago
I agree that the impact on philosophy was probably far greater than on science and math, but the fact is that several prominent mathematicians (most notably Gödel) were part of the group. One can of course argue whether e.g. Gödels achievements had anything to do with his being a member. As to your second remark, I did not mean to imply that the people listed were all members. They were not. But they did have affiliations with members of the group (personal and professional) and they are all discussed in the book.