Kurt Godel (1906-1978)
GODEL, Kurt (1906-78). In 1931 the mathematician and logician Kurt Godel published what has been called Godel's proof in arithmetic. This proof states that within any rigidly logical mathematical system there are propositions (or statements) that cannot be proved or disproved on the basis of the axioms within that system. It is therefore uncertain that the basic axioms of arithmetic will not give rise to contradictions. This proof has become a hallmark of 20th-century mathematics, and its significance is still debated.