Search results for ""Author Karl Sigmund""

"Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here," Plato warned would-be philosophers. Mathematician Karl Sigmund agrees.In The Waltz of Reason, he shows how mathematics and philosophy together have shaped our understanding of space, chance, logic, cooperation, voting, and the social contract. Sigmund shows how game theory is integral to moral philosophy, how statistics shaped the meaning of reason, and how the search for a logical basis for math leads to deep questions about the nature of truth itself. But this is no dry tome: Sigmund's wit and humour shine as brightly as his erudition.The Waltz of Reason is an engrossing history of ideas as vibrant as a ballroom full of dancers, one that empowers as it entertains, following the complex and occasionally dizzying steps of the thinkers who have moulded our thought and founded our world.

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Dieses Buch zeichnet Geschichte und Denkansätze des Wiener Kreises nach, des Gelehrtenzirkels, der aus dem Geistesleben des 20. Jahrhunderts nicht wegzudenken ist. Anknüpfend an Russell und Einstein versucht ein Team von Mathematikern, Naturwissenschaftlern und Philosophen die Grundlagen einer wissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung zu legen, im scharfen Gegenwind der reaktionären Politik der Zwischenkriegsjahre. Anschaulich, einfach und einprägsam stellt Karl Sigmund eine der spannendsten Episoden der radikalen Moderne dar - einer Episode, die vom Nationalsozialismus zerstört wurde, aber im angelsächsischen Exil reiche Früchte trug. Viele der damals angerissenen Fragen haben heute noch ihre Auswirkungen: Es führt eine Linie von der symbolischen Logik Carnaps und Gödels zur Informatik, und die wissenschaftliche Weltauffassung ist so selbstverständlich geworden, dass wir sie kaum mehr wahrnehmen. Ein Buch für alle an der Kulturgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts Interessierten, das naturwissenschaftlich und geisteswissenschaftlich orientierte Leserinnen und Leser in gleichem Maß anspricht. Die zweite Auflage enthält viel neues Material , etwa über die sensationell spannende Flucht Otto Neuraths über den Ärmelkanal, oder über die Laufbahnen von Friedrich Adler und Otto Pölzl (der„Leibpsychiater“), die den Wiener Kreis über Jahrzehnte begleiteten. Auch sind wichtige Seiten über Einstein, Turing und Brouwer dazugekommen. Douglas Hofstadter, der Autor von "Gödel, Escher, Bach", hat ein Nachwort zu dieser Neuauflage verfasst.

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How does cooperation emerge among selfish individuals? When do people share resources, punish those they consider unfair, and engage in joint enterprises? These questions fascinate philosophers, biologists, and economists alike, for the "invisible hand" that should turn selfish efforts into public benefit is not always at work. The Calculus of Selfishness looks at social dilemmas where cooperative motivations are subverted and self-interest becomes self-defeating. Karl Sigmund, a pioneer in evolutionary game theory, uses simple and well-known game theory models to examine the foundations of collective action and the effects of reciprocity and reputation. Focusing on some of the best-known social and economic experiments, including games such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, Trust, Ultimatum, Snowdrift, and Public Good, Sigmund explores the conditions leading to cooperative strategies. His approach is based on evolutionary game dynamics, applied to deterministic and probabilistic models of economic interactions. Exploring basic strategic interactions among individuals guided by self-interest and caught in social traps, The Calculus of Selfishness analyzes to what extent one key facet of human nature--selfishness--can lead to cooperation.

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Inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert's pursuit of the fundamental rules of mathematics, some of the most brilliant minds of the generation came together in post-World War I Vienna to present the latest theories in mathematics, science, and philosophy and to build a strong foundation for scientific investigation. Composed of such luminaries as Kurt Gödel and Rudolf Carnap, and stimulated by the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper, the Vienna Circle left an indelible mark on science. Exact Thinking in Demented Times tells the often outrageous, sometimes tragic, and never boring stories of the men who transformed scientific thought. A revealing work of history, this landmark book pays tribute to those who dared to reinvent knowledge from the ground up.

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