G
¨
odel Upsets the Applecart
he saw his way through the difficulty, but when he arose ...he saw
there was still a gap . . .
Things would have worked out differently, von Neumann quipped, if he had
dreamed a third night!
19
TheconferencewhereG¨odel dropped his bombshell was but an adjunct
to the major event taking place in K¨onigsberg that week: a convention of
the Society of German Scientists and Physicians. The opening address was
delivered by David Hilbert the day following the round-table. This was the
occasion in which Hilbert articulated the slogan still on his tombstone in
which he declared his faith that all mathematical questions must and will
be answered: “wir m¨ussen wissen; wir werden wissen,” [we must know; we
shall know]. G¨odel’s incompleteness ...