THE BEGINNING OF THE "FOUNDATIONAL DEBATE"

BROUWER, L. E. J.

Besitzt jede reelle Zahl eine Dezimalbruchentwicklung. (In "Mathematische Annalen. 83-84. Band. 1921").

Berlin, Julius Springer, 1921. 8vo. Bound with the original wrappers in dark blue full cloth. A very nice and clean copy. [Brouwer:] Pp. 201-10. [Entire issue: (4), 319, (4), 320 pp.].

First printing of Brouwer's paper based on his lecture at the "Naturforscherversammlung" in Bad Nauheim in 1920 which marks the beginning of the Foundational Debate (Grundlagenstreit). He asks whether every real number have a decimal expansion, to which he answers no. The debate was amplified by Weyl's defence of intuitionism in 1921, "On the New Foundational Crisis of Mathematics" and Hilbert's responds in 1922, "The New Grounding of Mathematics". The two main oppositions stood between Brouwer's intuitionism and Hilbert's formalism.

The volume contains the following papers of interest:
Hilbert, David. Adolf Hurwitz. Pp. 161-72.
Schoenflies, A. Zur Axiomatik der Mengenlehre. Pp. 173-200.
And many other papers by contemporary mathematicians.

Order-nr.: 44833