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1、AWorldWithoutTime:TheForgottenLegacyofGodelandEinsteinPalleYourgrau2005ItisawidelyknownbutlittleappreciatedfactthatAlbertEinstein,thetwentiethcentury'sgreatestphysicist,andKurtGodel,itsgreatestlogician,werebestfriendsforthelastdecadeandahalfofEinstein'slife.TheywalkedhometogetherfromPrinceton'sIns
2、tituteforAdvancedStudyeveryday;theysharedideasaboutphysics,philosophy,politics,andthelostworldofGerman-Austrianscienceinwhichtheyhadgrownup.Whatisnotwidelyknownisthediscoverythatgrewoutofthisfriendship.In1949Godelpublishedapaperprovingthatthereexistpossibleworldsdescribedbythetheoryofrelativityinw
3、hichtime,asweordinarilyunderstandit,doesnotexist.Hewentfurther:ifitisabsentfromthosetheoreticaluniverses,heshowed,timedoesnotexistinourworldeither.Einstein'sgreatworkhasnotexplainedtime,asmostphysicistsandphilosophersthink,butexplaineditcompletelyaway.EinsteinrecognizedGodel'spaperas"animportantco
4、ntributiontothegeneraltheoryofrelativity."PhysicistssincethenhavetriedwithoutsuccesstofindanerrorinGodel'sphysicsoramissingelementinrelativityitselfthatwouldruleoutworldmodelslikeGodel's.StephenHawkingwentsofarastoproposeanadhocmodificationofthelawsofnatureóa"chronologyprotectionconjecture"óspecif
5、icallytonegateGodel'scontributiontorelativity.Philosophershavebeenlargelysilentóandtheirsilence,saysYourgrau,isoneoftheintellectualscandalsofthepastcentury.AWorldWithoutTimeplacesGodelandEinstein'sepoch-makingdiscoveriesinthecontextofthegreatanddisturbingmovementsinphysics,philosophy,logic,mathema
6、tics,andtheartsthatdominatedthetwentiethcentury.Itpresentsapoignantandintimateaccountofthefriendshipbetweenthesetwomagnificentthinkers,eachputontheshelfbythescientificfashionsoftheirdayóandoursóandattemptstorescueGodel'sbrilliantworkfromundeservedobscurity.InspiredbyEinstein,KurtGodelmadeclearfort
7、hefirsttimethetrulyrevolutionarynatureofthetheoryofrelativity,whichtothisdayishardlyrecognized.PALLEYOURGRAUisassociateprofessorofPhilosophyatBrandeisUniversity.His1999monograph,GodelMeetsEinstein:TimeTravelinthe
