Books with text by Lillian R.

Lieber
and drawings by Hugh Gray Lieber iHUMAI\
The Bducation of T. C. Mits
(*. *. NoRToN o corvæarvr,
The Einstein Theory of Relativity
wc.)
V,q,LUES
(rror,r, RrNEH^A.Rr c wrNsrow)
Take a Number and
(noNer-o rnnss corvrnaNr)
Galois and the Theory of Groups SC IÈÑ C T,
(car"ors rNsrrrurn rnr,ss)
Non-Euclidean Geometry ART AND
(cerors rNsrrrurr nnuss)
Good-bye Mr. Man, Hello Mr. NE\Mman
MATHEMATICS
(c,rrors rNsTrrurr nnnss) yt
Mits, Wits and Logic ,r"'ffD
(*. *. NoRToN e. corvæeNr, rNc.)
Text by /'
LILLIAN R. LIEBER
Infinity
(nor,t, RTNEHTIRT c wrNsroN)
Drøwings by
Comedie Internationale
HUGH G. LIEBER
(celors rNsrrrurE rnnss)
Lattice Theory: The Atomic Age in Mathematics
(car-ors rNsrrrurE nnnss)
Human Values and Science, Art and MathematiCI
(*. *.NoRToN et covæaxr, nc.) I

t.

I
I
I

lr NEW YORK
W. W. Norton & ComPanY, Inc'
 cQA z
,Lz,t I

DEDICATION
This book is

1fP affectionately dedicated to

I,INIVËF.SITT Tristram Walker Metcalfe
OFCHICAGC who was
[IBRARY a distinguished educator,
in the best sense of the term- l

he brought out in all people

what was best in them
and then gave them
the freedom to grow,
copyRlcr¡T @ 196r By Lrr.iLrÀN R. ÂND EucE cRAy LTEBER whether it be in
Art or Mathematics
or any other
fine human enterprise.
FIRST EDITION
He believed in the human race
and was determined
to help all people to realize
the best that was in them
despite the
"Killers of the Dream."
Library of Congres Catalog Card No. 6t-rt34z We are in desperate need
of more of such
courageous,
wlse,
All Rights Reserved dedicated educators
Published simultaneousþ in the TODAYT
Dominion of Canada by
George |. Mcleod Ltd., Toronto

PRINTED IN TIIE UNITED STATES OF ÂMERICA

FOR TIIE PUBLISTIERS BY THE VÀIL-BÄLLOU PRESS

t234567 89

5c.t (,tJ c t:
 PROLOGUB AND BPILOGUE

This should be read

This is not intended to be both before and after the rest of the book-
free verse. before, in order to get the flavor of things to come;
\Mriting each phrase on a separate line after, to judge whether the promises have been kept.
facilitates rapid reading
and everyone This book is really about
is in a hurry Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,
nowadays. using ideas from mathematics
a to make these concepts less vague.
, We shall see first what is meant by
ó *thinking" in mathematics,
a and the light that it sheds on both the
CAPABILITIES and the LIMITATIONS
a of the human mind.
a A,nd we shall then see what bearing this can harrc
a on "thinking" in general-
a even, for example, about such matters as
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!

For we must admit that our "thinking"

about such things,
without this aid,
oÕo
often leads to much confusion-
mistaking LICENSE for LIBERTY,
often resulting in juvenile delinquency;
mistaking MONEY for HAPPINESS,
often resulting in adult delinquency;
mistaking for LIFE itself
iust a sordid struggle for mere existencel

Let me indicate how mathematics can help us-

for example by showing what happened in mathematics
at the beginning of the rgth century,
r*hich led to a great
7
NEW FREEDOM that was NOT LICENSEI
By such specific illustrations,
issues can be stated more clearly
and considered more easily,
without the usual confusion.
Thus let us take a brief look at
the history of mathematics as depicted in
the singleìine diagram at the right
(drawn approximately to scale)!
These are significant dates because
so far as we know
( r ) the earliest mathematics goes back to about 5ooo
B.C.,O
(z) the first WRITTEN document on mathematics,
the well-known Ahmes papyrus,*
dates back to about rSoo B. C.,
+
(3) the golden period of Greek mathematics lSoo rl0
(the work of Euclid and others)
belongs to the time around 3oo B. C.,
(4) the rgth century, r8oo to rgoo A. D.,o
may be designated as
the beginning of MODERN mathematics.
Now it is a fact that
the amount of mathematics created
during the rgth century alone
\ryas more than FIVE TIMES as much as
was created in all of previous history! *
WHY?I
You will see in this little book
that at the beginning of the rgth century
man became aware, IN MATHEMATICS,
how much more CREATIVE he can be!
And this NEW FREEDOM opened up
* See E. T. Bell's wonderful book:
The De'teloþment of Mathematìcs.
I 9
the floodgates of discovery,
as mentioned above.
And so,
by looking at what happened in mathematics,
we can come to a better idea of
what MAN is capable of,
and HOW he can utilize his capabilities.
Moreover, by looking at mathematics
one can also see that
in spite of this great discovery,
namely, the realization that
postulates are MAN-MADE *-
still this does NOT mean that
man does not need GOD (!),
and does NOT lead to human ARROGANCE,
rq 5e A0 but rather to HUMILITY!-
l.loþ
^t for we find in mathematics
specific instances of the idea that
tÏre MORE we KNOW, the MORE we contact also
the UNKNOWN.
This may sound paradoxical,
but consider the following diagram
5oo Bc
r¡ l( Fv<)
\,
J
I \
K NOW¡v
l9oo Èc,
in which the finite region of the "KNO'WN"
is surrounded by the
UNBOUNDtrD region of the "UNKNOWN";
then, as we enlarge the "KNOWN" region,
note that the BOUNDARY
between the KNOWN and the UNKNOWN
û See de['s first chapter, "Freedom and Responsibility'"
Sooo 8c
 INCREASES, and mathematics can teach us to accept them!
(shown by the dotted line in the diagram), It is for this reason that
as witness the following example: BVERYONE should know something of
There is a new branch of mathematics this approach to this beautiful subiect,
known as I,ATTICE THEORY, and noi regard it as just a useful means of
developed largely by counting your small changel
the grèat, youn$ biilliant American mathematician,
Garrett Birkhoff,
at Harvard University.
He published a book about it in r94o,
which is a magnificent treatise on
this powerful new mathematical tool;
also in it he listed 17 problems in this domain
still unsolved at that time.
[,ater, in 1948, his second edition of this book
had to be almost completely re-written
because of the tremendous advances
which had been made in this domain
during this short interval;
and he now stated that
8 of the r7 problems had already been
essentially solved,
BUT
he now listed rrr NEW UNSOLVED problemd

Does this discourage you?

Or do you react to it with the
"cheerful resignation"
which a mathematician learns from
the realization of the
LIMITATIONS of his great subject
WITHOUT losing his deep respect for its
POSITIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
thus giving to MAN
his dignified but NOT OMNISCIENT placc
in the Universe.
These are comforting thoughts,
11
10
I

I
 PREFACE

This little book

is intended to show that
"Science" and "The Humanities"
are NOT two separate domains
at war wjth each other,
but, on the contrary,
are one and the samet
Nowhere can one see this
so EASILY and CLEARLY
as in
even a brief look at
MODERN MATHEMATICS and SCIENCE and
MODERN ART,
which show the
INFINITE VARIETY that
MAN is capable of,
how great is his marvelous
creative ability,
if only he would take
a good look at himself
and give up the false notions
that have been fed to him
that he is iust a
greedy
violent
MONSTER!
 CONTENTS

DEDICÀTION
5
PROLOCUE ÂND EPILOGUE
7
PREF.{,CE I3
r FREEDOM ANDRESPONSIBTLTIY 19
u "ETERNIL vERrrIEs"
46
rrr Locrc 72
ilr EguAr" RrcHT ÄND EgUAL succrss 9g
y LIFE, LIBERTY, .A,ND THE puRSuIT OF IIAPPINESS 12O
vr rHE upsuorl r)6
vn IMPORTANT NOTES: r4z
T EINSTEIN'S TELEGRAM TO THE
PEOPLE 142
z METAMATHEMATICS
44
3 THE LORENTZ TRANSFORMATTON 47
 HUMAN VALUES
AND
Science, Art and Mathematict
 I. FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

r. The Great Discovery of 1826.

One of the amazing things
in the history of mathematics
happened at the beginning of
the rgth century.
As a result of it,
the floodgates of discovery
were opened wide,
and the flow of creative contributions
is still on the increase!
As E. T. Bell,*
the distinguished American mathematician,
says:
"The nineteenth century . . .
contributed to mathematical knowledge
about FIVE TIMES AS MUCH as was done
in the whole of preceding history."
And the rate of increase
has been even greater
since rgool

Furthermore,
this amazing phenomenon
was due to a mere
CHANGE OF ATTITUDEI
Perhaps I should not say "mere,'
since the effect was se i¡¡¡¡s¡ss-
which only goes to show that
a CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
can be extremely significant,
* E. T. Bell: Men of Mathematícs, p. r7.

t9
 and we might do well
to examine our ATTITUDES
toward many things, and people,-
this might be most rewarding,
as it proved to be in
mathematics.
As we shall see.
z. A Change of "A,ttitude.
In order to appreciate a
CHANGE of attitude,
we must of course know
what was the OLD attitude,
and what is the NEW one.
To do this,
we must go back to
Euclid, about 3oo B. C.,
who,
as every high school boy knows,
first put together
the various known facts of geometry
into a SYSTEM,
instead of leaving them as
isolated bits of information-
as in a quiz program!
If you have ever had occasion
to use a system,
you probably know that by this means
one can learn more
faster,
and even use it to
make new discoveries!
Are you skeptical when
you remember your struggles with
Euclidean geometry
20
in high school?
For perhaps you did NOT learn
much,
nor fast,
nor- discover anything new
with its help!
Perhaps you are in the state of mind
of some art students
who were being introduced to
Birkhofi's theory of aesthetic measure.*
The artist, Hugh Gray Lieber,
who w-as telling them about it,
wanted to draw some simple figures,
triangles, quadrilaterals, e[c._-
in order to see which shapes
seemed to them to be
"more" or "less" pleasing,
and see if they agreed with
Birkhofi's way of"
measuring
how_pleasing a shape can be!
To the artist's amaiement,
no sooner did he draw some triangles,
than a-general groan went up
from the students-
it seems they were reminded of
th-eir_geomeiry in high school
which they hád Iearñed to dislike
so intensely,
that the very thought of
finding thesê "shaþes"
even mildly pleasing
seemed to them preþosterous!
But let us not blame this on Euclid,
nor on the idea of a SySTEM_
* G. D. Birkhoff:
Aesthetic Measure.
2l
 for people can even learn to From these
hate Shakespeare and Beethoven!- he derived many complicated theorems
the fault surely lies elsewhere. (the "consequences")
This however is a subject like the well-known
for another essay; Pythagorean Theorem,
perhaps you will want to write this one and many, many others.
yourself.
,{nd, as we all know,
The fact is that to "prove" any theorem
Euclid's system one must show how
has served for many centuries to "derive" it from the postulates-
as a MODEL for clear thinking, that is,
and has been and still is every claim made in a "proof"
of the greatest value to the human race. must be supported by reference to
the postulates or
Now, what is a "SYSTEM"? to theorems which have previously
already been so "proved"
In constructing a system, from the postulates.
one must begin with Of course Theorem fir
a few simple statements must follow from
from which, the postulates ONLY.
by means of logic,
one derives the "consequences." Now what about
We can thus the postulates themselves?
"figure out the consequences" How can THEY be "proved"?
before they hit us. Obviously they
And this we certainly need more oft CANNOT be PROVED at all-
since there is nothing preceding them
Thus Euclid started with such from which to derive them!
simple statements This may seem disappointing to those who
(called "postulates" in mathematics) thought that in
AS: Mathematics
"It shâll be possible to draw EVERYTHING is proved!
a straight line joining But you can see that
any two points," this is IMPOSSIBLE,
and others like it.* even in mathematics,
n (t) T. L. Heath: Thirtøen Books of Euclíd's Eleme,nts. since EVERY SYSTEM must necessarilvr
(") ]. W. Young: Fundamental Conceþts of Algebra and Geometry START with POSTULATES,
2Z 23
ând these are NOT provable,
since there is nothing preceding them
from which to derive them.
Of course Euclid was
well aware of this.
One might ask,
"Why, then, did Euclid consider
his system to be reliable
when he knew that
it was BASED on UNPROVED postulates?"
The answer is that
he considered the postulates to be
..SELF-EVIDENT TRUTHS."
And so
Euclid's system may be
represented diagrammatically thus:
t'Self-evidenf
trulhs" Logic
This then is
what I have referred to as
the "OLD" point of view,
which was basically changed
in the beginning of the rgth century,
leading to
the Great Discovery of 1826.
Now what is the "NEW" point of view,
and what brought about this
CHANGE?
It is interesting to note that
creative mathematicians
are really very CONSERVATIVE,
24
making progress
not by a wanton "radical" approach,
but by an inevitable pressure
which makes change IMPERATIVE.
This was indeed the case
in the above-mentioned
"OLT)" viewpoint toward POSTULATES,
which held them to be it
"self-evident truths,"
and you will soon see
how mathematicians were
actually FORCED
to make the change,
after centuries of
FAILURE to solve a certain problem
by other means!
3. The Failure Which Led To Success.
'Theorems Among Euclid's postulates
was the one now known as
("Conseguences"I
the FAMOUS PARALLEL POSTUI"{,TE.
It may be stated thus:
Through any point C which is
NOT on a given line AB,
c
A B
ONE and ONLY ONE line
can be drawn which is
PARALLEL to the given line-
that is,
which does NOT meet the given line,
no matter how far they are both prolonged
either to the right or to the left.
h
 ìig* this parricular postulate "self-evident truths,"
dtd not seem to Euclid to be they should rather be regarded as
a gsminely,,self_evident truth',;
MAN-MADE ASSUMPTIONS.
and therefore
he felt that he should be able
Now why is this so IMPORTANT?
to "prove" it Does such philosophic hair-splitting by
from his other postulates. "eggheads"
And- he proceed-ed to try to prove it.
But he was UNABLE to do såt- -
- really matter?
One might think that,
whatever the NATURE of
Furthermore, the postulates themselves,
many other distinguished mathematicians, one should be able to say
after Euclid, whether or not
also tried to prove a statement
the PARALLEL POSTULATE, (in this case, the parallel postulate)
but also met with does or does not follow
FAILUREI from the postulates.
.tnd this went on for centuries!
But NOI
Ev-en the great Legendre,*
as late as r8oo, For, if the statement is
gave what is now known to be a MAN-MADE ASSUMPTION,
a fallacious "proof.,' (an "IFFY" statement,
as FDR used to say)
there is nothing SACRED about it,
And then, in 1826, it dawned on it is NOT INEVITABLE,
several mathematicians at once
and THEREFORE
(independently of each othJì_ may be CHANGED.
T,obachevsky, ilolyai, and
Gaussa Now what has this to do with
that the difficulty'lay in the above-mentioned issue of
the very ATTITûDE toward whether or not
what postulates are_ the parallel postulate
that follows from the OTHER Euclidean postulates?
instead of regarding them as
* You may be
interested to see Legendre,s argument
You will soon see the connection.
'The Eúcl idean paraltel post;út.TË ;ì"iå"ëiur.r, in a paper on
Princeton University, pubtis[ed or
ú i'hJëalåii;stiture
Mathematics and,{iÌ,'624 a rnií¿ S;J,"biå.i_iy" of The above-mentioned mathematicians
r5, N. y. not only accepted this
z6 27
 l
I

NE\M ATTITUDE toward Thus the NEW viewpoint ,l

I

a postulate set, toward postulates

but actually proceeded may be represented thus:
TO CHANGF :fHN PARALLEL POSTULATE, l

leaving the OTHER Euclidean postulates ;

UNCHANGED, Man-made Theorems

with the result that Assumptions ---)
Logic ("Co n se q uences")
i

they found :

an entirely NEW GEOMETRY,

in many ways quite different from And this
Euclid's, SEEMINGLY SMALL CHANGE, ij

but just as SELF-CONSISTENT as this "mere" change in ATTITUDE,

Euclid's.
Now, what does this mean?
You will see in the following sections
how these men changed
Euclid's parallel postulate,
what their NEW PARALLEL POSTULATE was,
I
and how their exhibiting
a NEW self-consistent geometry
shows that the parallel postulate is
INDEPENDENT Of
the remaining postulates in the set,
that is,
it does NOT FOLLOW from them-
no wonder it could not be
..PROVED''!
You will also see that
although this new geometry
seemed "queef,"
it turned out to be
extremely useful-
not only in explaining
the dilemma of the parallel postulate,
but turned out to be even of
great PRACTICAL value as well!
was the Great Discovery of 18z6
which opened the floodgates of
creative work in mathematics
and science-
as you will soon see.
4. Non-Euclidean Geometries.
Lobachevsky, Bolyai, and Gauss
who, as I mentioned on page 26,
worked entirely independently of each other,
not only all got
the same brilliant idea about
the NATURE of the postulates themselves,
but they all decided to
CHANGE
ONLY the PARALLEL POSTULATE,
leaving the OTHER Euclidean postulates
as they were,
and, furthermore,
they all decided to change it in
the SAME way: *
* Whether this is "mind-reading"
is of course a most interesting question,
but, as of now,
nobody knows the answer,
and it will probably be investigated

z8 29
 namely,
to make it read:
Through any point C which is
NOT on a given line AB,
TWO lines may be drawn which are
BOTH
parallel to the given line-
that is,
which do NOT meet the given line,
no matter how far they are prolonged
either to the right or to the left.
Now, if you try to draw
a diagram like this
i

ll
rl Ç
Ìt
I

ri

ir
rl
ll
ll
A B
I
'l you will of course feel that
ri
NEITHER line through C
ri
can possibly be parallel to AB,
I since either one, if prolonged,
will surely meet AB somewhere
tl
ll (or AB prolonged).
l1
ri But the fault is not
rl with the assumption that
I two such lines are possible,
I BOTH parallel to AB,
I but rather with this misleading diagram-
tlr. futur.-*e hope!
All we know now is that

I
this sort of thing has happened many times.
-i'
Compare the case of the calculus, - :-.- -
developed independently by
both Newton and Leibnitz,
as well as many other casesl

30
3L
 They obtained many theorems
Let this be a WARNING that
whióh seemed very bizarrc-
DIAGRAMS CAN BE MISLEADING
for example:
and must therefore be used with
Ir) Two parallel lines are
the greatest CAUTION- ' ' NOT everywhere equallY distant,
indeed, in Euclidean geometrY.
as they are
diagrams are really (z) The angle-sum of a triangle
not necessary in geometry at all, is LESS than r8oo,
for it is the LOGIC (instead of exactlY rSoo as in
which is actually the tool for "proof" Euclidean geometry),
(see page zz).
and is NOT alwaYs the same,
Diagiams are sometimes helpful,
resardless of the
but sometimes actually a hindrance- siie and shape of the triangle
watch out that (as in Euclidean geometry),
they do not involve some
but ranges from
PRETUDICE, oo to r8oo;
as in the above case,
etc., etc.
as you will soon see.
Thus an entirely difierent geometry
For this particular case,
was created.
I shall tell you about a diagram which As Bolyai wrote to his father-
IS helpful here,
he had created a whole new world
and yet which
out of his own head! *
does NOT make
the above assumption look absurd, Perhaps this only makes You
as did the diagram on page 30.
suspicìous of the whole procedure!
Making you believe that
Well,
all this is merely
Lobachevsky, Bolyai, and Gauss
a mental exercise,
used LOGIC of course
serving no real PurPose.
(not diagrams)
You will soon see, however,
in deriving their theorems from
that
their new set of postulates, not only does it correspond to reality,
which consists of but that we actuallY live in a
their NEW parallel postulate NON-Euclidean world!
I
(the one assuming TWO lines
parallel to a given line But first
ii lhrough a given point outside the line) let us see what haPPened next.
together with Euclid's remaining postulates. * H. S. M. Coxeter: Non-Euclidean Geometry, p' ro'
And what happened?
33
72
 The realization that
Again this SEEMS to make no sense-
postulates are
and indeed it seemed to make no sense
only man-made assumptions
even to the contemporaries of
led, within a few years,
these great men, who were, in consequence,
in r85o, ignored by them! *
to still another geometry:
this time, Riemann,
So you may wonder
again leaving all the Euclidean postulates
why these queer geometries
unchanged, EXCEPT ONLY
are considered to be
the PARALLEL POSTULATE,
significant and important now!-
which he changed to:
aside from the fact that
l.l, Through any point C which is
I
the very existence of these
not on a given line AB,
self-consistent non-Euclidean geometries
ri NO line can be drawn which is shows that
L parallel to the given line.
rllllr
il,,
the parallel postulate is obviously
INDEPENDENT of
rl'ttt
lll'r And again
the remaining Euclidean postulates,
l,iiii this new postulate set
for, if it followed from them,
lllt' (and it IS a NtrW SET even though
, tÍrl
only a single postulate has been changed!)
it could not be replaced by
ltrli its contradictory-
led to still another
14,
with either TWO or NO parallels through C-
Non-Euclidean geometry,
,lli
as did the above-mentioned mathematicians!
difierent from the previous one
No wonder their predecessors
rlilli as well as from
;ql
'lli were unable to prove it!
our old Euclidean geometry,
again with some
But let us no\ry see other amazing uses
:rdil seemingly bízane theorems
, i,rl of the
'1 r',i
like:
r{il Non-Euclidean Geometries!
(r ) From a given point outside a given line
iii many lines can be drawn which are
all perpendicular to the given line 5. What is the Use of It?
til

ltl
(instead of only one as in
\Mell, in the first place,
lll Euclidean geometry).
shortly after all this happened,
ttl (z) The angle-sum of a triangle namely in r868,
rl'
is GREATER than r8o",
Il a mathematician named Beltrami
l ranging from rSoo to 54o".
t, * See the thrilling stories in
ll
And many, many others.
I
Men of Mathematics by E. T. Bell.
34
35
 and many, many others;
of all these,
there is a SHORTEST.
Now on a "flat" surface,
the shortest path is
an ordinary straight line,
whereas on a sphere
it is an arc of a great circle.*
Similarly,
other surfaces have
their own characteristic
shortest distance paths,
called "geodesics'
'l
where they meet),
so that we have here
any number of PerPendiculars
from a point to a line
(as statêd in (r) on9age 34),
and,
although this is not the case on
a flat surface,
it is neverthéless verY sensible
if we consider instead
the surface of a sPhere.
Similarly, (z) on Page 34

il thus the geodesic on a "flat" surface

is a straight line, is also very sensibìe on this surface,
il,
I, the geodesic on a sphere is for, consider a triangle
Irill " an arc of a great circle, (whose sides are of course
i',ri etc., etc. arcs of great circles,
tlhil which a1e the geodesics here)
'il,li If we now take whose base is
tii:
'l''t' the equator on a sphere a part of the equator
ti, " as the GIVEN "straight line" and whose other two sides are
i¡¡,t,
(meaning "shortest distance path" or oarts of two meridians
geodesic, äxtending from the ends of the base
i,ti
'lr as explained above), and meeting at the Pole.
l,l and the "north pole" as Here the two base angles are
. t1
tl
l the point, C, outside the line, both right angles (each 9o"),
rll it is quite easy to see that whereas the third angle,
llii the one at the Pole,
any meridian through C
lll,
r'l meets the equator mav have a varying number of degrees
iilil perpendicularly (dépending o" ttté length of the base chosen)
|tll (since it forms so that
two equal right angles the angle-sum of the triangle
iti is obvióusly MORE than r8oo,
r A great circle is obtained by
riÌii
as claimed or P^ge 34.
"cutting" the sphere in half-
irlll thus the equator or any meridian, etc.
iii
is a great circle, And so on,
whereas the latitude lines are for other theorems
'Ìll
circles, but not GREAT circles.
which seem impossible when
38
79
 are thinking of a flat surface,
,we.
but are seen to be most sensible Çh.n
applied to a different surface.

Fur, also, it is easy to see that

two great circles on a sphere l

al.w.a¡rs intersect each other,

which means that 0
two "straight lines', (i.e. geodesics)
on a sphere are
NEVER PARALLEL,
and we thus have a surface on which
Riemann's PARALLEI, pOSiüLÀie
(see page 34)
actually applies,
and is NOT QUEER at allt
It only seemed queer so long as
we were prejudiced in favor óf
drawing figures on a flat surface
and studying the corresponding
Euclidean gãometry.

Thus the
IEW ATTITUDE TOWARD POSTULATES
(page 29)
has succeeded in freeing us from
t.i this
ii
,il
PREIUDICE,
lll resulting in making it possible
t_or us to think of othêr surfaccs
and
i:r their own, Non-Euclid.rn, g.tÃ"iri.r,
'iil
rlli
Similarly, ltt
ilil the PARALLEL POSTULATE of
üli
Lobachevsky, Bolyai, and Gauss
r{
was also shown by Beltrami v'' càl/fi¡.r ¡¡ ¡ .-
lrll perfectli good t' tQ."u..
l' sense,
"to.T?\.
but this time on
É'l

a surface called a

40 4L
 for this purpose "Tool-kit"
turned out to be instead of just
NON-EUCLIDEAN, one "hammer" with its
and not at all the LIMITED usefulness.
Euclidean geometry which
we all study in high school. But of course,
But of course this is NOT to say that whenever one produces
'
this_ old Euclidean geometry is a new postulate set,
no longer any good- one has the RESPONSIBILITY of
on the contrary, making sure that the postulates
you now know that DO NOT CONTRADICT EACH OTHER
it is as good as ever (for you cannot even play a game in which
(in fact better now than ever, the rules contradict each other,
since some errors in it can you?!).
r,il,
have been corrected)
l''lli provided it is applied appropriately, And, further,
14:l
Itr
ì
as, for example, on a one has the RESPONSIBILITY of
¡'.i
"flat" Euclidean surface. following through to the
îrr i

And indeed this "consequences" (theorems),

lii,';i
ril; NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD POSTULATES as did the mathematicians mentioned above,
'li, "
rlrrl'i (page z9) and not just "give out" with
I

has been applied also to a would-be set of postulates

1"i
,{,LGEBRA, without such responsible examination-
iIi:;, and resulted, and just "walk away from it"-
l,'l' as do some "leaders" in high places
as you might guess,
¡1' in a great many who issue irresponsible press conferences
, ¡'l
n l:, algebras and arithmetics, in which they sometimes say things which
lrii logics (in the plural!), may sound innocent enough at the time,
3¡r_d_gven
'l WONDERFUL and USEFUL, but which would be seen to lead to
as you will see in most dangerous consequences
iiil;
rli,i the subsequent chapters in this book. if properly and
RESPONSIBLY followed through!
And so
liil
rtiil to sum up: Thus mathematics can tell us much about
r'l the CHANGB OF ATTITUDE PROPER HUMAN BEHAVIOR,
,''1,
rl toward POSTULATES and is not to be used only as
(the Great Discovery of r8z6!) a calculating tool,
ll has resulted in furniíhing us wíth a whole like a machine!
44 45
 II. ..ETERNAL VERITIES"

r. Is Twice Two Always Equal to Four?

And so we have seen that,
in M.,\THEMATICS,
there are
NO "self-evident truths."
And, we shall soon see that
there are also
NO "eternal verities" in
MATHEMATICS!
To those people who,
though they may dislike mathematiæ,
still have a
ilr "give-the-devil-his-due" attitude,
believing that
il.
,l,i at least mathematics is
RELIABLE
since in it we have
such "eternal verities" as
TWICE TWO IS ALWAYS FOUR,
I say
you will soon see that
twice two is NOT always four,
that there are NO "eternal verities" in
mathematics-
,A.ND YET_
do not get too discouraged,
I f.or,
/+-L
even though mathematics is
only a MAN-MADE enterprise,
still
man has done very well for himself
in this domain,
47
46
 where he has
I
FREEDOM WITH RESPONSIBILITY-
t,
I
and where
I

though he has learned the

HUMILITY rhar goes with
knowing that he does
NOT have access to
"Self-evident truths', and
"Eternal verities,"
that he is NOT God-
yet he knows also that the overlapping portion represents
he is not a mouse either, the new baby, and
but a man, the other r's represent
with all the HIS child and HER child BEFORE
HUMAN DIGNITY and rhe this marriage.
HUMAN INGENUITY Now,
needed to develon it is quite easy to see that
the wonderful doinain of althoùgh he has TWO children,
mathematics. his own,
Solet us go back to and she has TWO children,
twice two is four- her own,
or is it? vet TOGETHER
lhey have only
Consider the following situation, THREE children,
and decide for yoursel"f i have they not?
That is,
Suppose that a widow here
who has a little daughter TWO and TWO add uP to
marries a widower rího THREE,
also has one child, NOT FOUR!
and they then have In other words,
a baby by the new marriage. you do NOT add here in the usual waY,
Repres_ent this situation b"y but rather
the following simple diagrám. in accordance with the meaning of
l,et the two circles here reDresent ,A,DDITION Of CLASSES
the "class" of HIS children anâ as defined in
the "class" of HER children- BOOLEAN ALGEBRA.
then obviously the r child in This was the first of
the NEW Algebras,
48
49
 of which l shall tell you more. "S(JM" and "PRODUCT,"
You will remember from which have a bearing on
the first chapter of this book, the subject of
"Freedom and Responsibility," "Eternal Verities."
that The SUM of two CLASSES, a and b,
The Great Discovery of. t8z6 is indicated in the following diagram
was that
Postulates in mathematics are
NOT "self-evident truths" but rather
MAN-MADE ASSUMPTIONS,
and therefore of course
l' subject to change by MAN! ,,11

And from this fõilowed ir:

,,:I
r
li various new
NON-Euclidean Geometries
[,,
j,l'
which have served so many 4 b ir¡

l4 useful purposes. l:|,

1','
Remember? by the entire shaded portion-
1r'' l'tl
that is why we got :iil
,li
rt,.
''
Well, in THIS chapter z@z:3 I
t,"
I'rrr
I wish to show vou how (on page 49)
il
this same Great Discovery when we were adding rltl
I
infl uenced ALGEBRA aléo, the two classes of children,
r
{;. so that since then HIS and HERS.
t,,,]
there have grown up also Note the use of O instead of fl!
lj"'
l MANY NEW ALGEBRAS, the usual f of ordinary arithmetic, lll

i' of which the first was since of course these two symbols f(
i

lÍ''
tt'
the Algebra of Classes, refer to DIFFERENT kinds of ADDITION.
known as Boolean Algebra, ì:rl.
I

mentioned above, Incidentally, may I say that

l*t
¡l' and developed by the "PRODUCT" of two CLASSES
George Boole is defined to be
t'
t.
about r85o. their common part- ¡Lr

{lli I shall not give you here the part marked c in the above diagram 1,jl
i, illl
y'f a complete set of the So that,
lll in the situation on pages 48 and 49,
Postulates for Boolean Algebra, ;,r'
lll
/', but will point out only we have r.,f

two of its important definitions, zØz-r (not4)! {(l

5o 51
 And note of course I instead of
ordinary multiplication, X.

Perhaps you will say

"Very clever, but
not to be taken too seriously,
for, after all,
z*2, aswell asz\2,
is still 4."
To which the reply is that
the answer is 4 in
,il
ORDINARY ARITHMETIC,
and of course still holds
I Í,
:
'i rL

ll where ordinary arithmetic applies,

l{
.t,
as ln your
:t

ó:
income tax calculations!
lr BUT you will admit that 'll.t!{U! !i/it
,'tll
i¡r.
there are many situations in 'i
il'
u'l LIFE, := ,' lI
# ,I
{. as in the case of the family on pages 48 and 49, r:--.
,lr'' ¿=-.---
l" where ordinary arithmetic is r¡

NOT the proper tool for getting

lr

l,'" the correct answers!

t{,, And you will be surprised to know l]tl
.1,1 il Ill
how very many problems there are
,,f
which can NOT be solved by ilt
r

i"' ordinary arithmetic and algebra,

but rather by
'li" A
I,i, Boolean Algebra,
or some other of
t,,,

[:,,
the many NBW algebras.
Take for instance
I' the tremendous advantage
q:,1

ii.
that has been gained in l,tr

1,.,
the study of Logic itself, ,/,Æ
rllri
in which large volumes of
i;ii
traditional logic B
ul'
have been reduced to A+B
52
 FIVE LINES the answer is the same in either case:
by means of Boolean Algebra! * thus,
And you may be interested in
the applications of TXtr-7'
Boolean Algebra to
1rx 7 _77
etc.
some very prâctical Problems of
electrical wiring! t This is known as the
"Commutative Law of Multiplication."
So you see Now I âttt s,tt"
there is no reason whatever to call you are not thrilled bY this-
orclinary arithmetic and algebra it is so "obvious,"
the "eternal verities"- it is just a bore to mention it! 'llI
t: for the other algebras are But now prepare for a
ii IUST AS GOOD, SHOCK!
and indeed BETTER in
r{, .

i,i,, problems where they apply. There is an algebra given bY

ii
lr E. V. Huntington in his
ill. ' "Fundamental Propositions of Algebra" *
z. Other Algebras. ,{
l|r'
ú:'l
"
in which he defines I as follows: J
¡l Furthermore,
;t;,
these other algebras are not only
agb:b ,

Ír1 ,!
interesting and useful in themselves, that is,
but are also valuable in the product of two numbers here gives
{t::' making us appreciate and understand better the second one of the two lil
,,t
i',1 ii
the postulates of ORDINARY algebra as the answer!
{'"
',
which otherwise seem Thus here lve have 1Ì
t¡, ,iÌ
unimportant and "boring."
t!
'f!
Let me illustrate: 4 Ø7:7,
[' 5 @ z:2, il
il etc.
ttl One of the Postulates of
lr,i
('
ordinary algebra is: so that you do not have to
aXb-bXa learn any multiplication table here!
I'
t,
Youngsters would go for this in abigway,
|:li which says of course that wouldn't they?
if you multiply two numbers, a and b,
t',.
it does not matter which one you put first, * Published by
ilr The Galois Institute of
* See Chapter III. Mathematics and Art,
I See Chapter III. 6z4A Third Street, BrooklYn r5, N.Y.

54 55
But of course Huntington
and that
did not invent this algebra iust
to please the children,
in order to be able to use
ANY algebra,
though he would not mind
you must of course know
their enjoying itt
what ARE its Postulates,
He had a serious purpose in
and you must therefore
inventing it-
know and
look it up in his little book
STATE EXPLICITLY
Tentioned on page 55. whether, for examPle,
Here I shall only point out
the Commutative l,aw
the following:
In this algebra, as you see, a8b-b8a
we have
holds or not.
a8b:b And so,
BUT
if it holds in ordinary algebra,
which it DOES,
b8a-a one must of course SAY SO'
for it is far from "obvious" that
That is,
it MUST always hold,
when you "multiply" two numbers here
as you saw above.
you get two DIFFERENT answers
Thus,
(b or a, as above)
by coming in contact with
depending on
VARIOUS algebras,
which number you put first!
we learn to apþreciate how important it is
aSbdoesNOTequalbSa,- to state explicitlY
the Set of Postulates for
So that
that is any particular algebra,
whether it be ordinary algebra
the Commutative Law for Multiplication
does NOT hold in this algebra
- or anv other-
(contrast page 55) t
for ií is the Postulate Set which
tells us
The knowledge that it is
POSSIBLE what the game is
to have algebras in which that we are trying to PlaY.
this simple law does NOT hold, And the fact that
emphasizes the fact that
the postulates are
A,LL algebras are MAN-MADE, FEW and SIMPLE,
with MAN-MADE postulates, far from being a bore,
i
is a WELCOME fact,
56 5J
 for then we realize that
the game is really a simple one-
and even ordinary algebra
thus loses its bad reputation of
being hard!

A,nd you will be

amazed and delighted to see
the various algebras given by
E. V. Huntington
and to rcalize
the important connection they have
with ordinary algebra-
this will make the latter
much more interesting and alive
than the usual boring approach to
this beautiful subject.

Let me now make

very brief reference
to some other algebras
which are among
the most useful modern tools of thought:
(r ) Take the system known as a
GROUP.
It is a very simple system,
for it has
B
only ONE operation, 0
"Multiplication" and I
only FOUR postulates,*
and yet 4

by means of GROUP THEORY

many problems have been solved which
I¡
resisted solution for centuries-
* See Gatoi¡ and the Theory of Grouþs,
by Lillian R. Lieber,
with drawings by Hugh G. Lieber,
published by
The Galois Institute of Mathematics and Art.
59
58
 for instance:
* of the many successes of Group Theory,
the famous old trisection problem
is EASILY shown to be
IMPOSSIBLE of solution-
page the young and old would-be
angle-trisectors,
anã those journalists who write
spectacular articles claiming
that some young "genius" in their town
has succeeded in Performing
this impossible feat!
]'genius" would spend his time
Such a
to much better advantage
if he studied the Theory of GrouPs-
which would not onlY exPlain to him
why the trisection problem is impossible,
buf would familiarize him with
one of the most imPortant tools of
Modern Mathematics.
As E. T. Bell says: t
"Wherever gtoups disclosed themselves,
or could be introduced,
simplicity and harmonY
.tyJtrili"äd out of comþarative chaos.
The idea of a group
was one of the outstanding additions
to the apparatus of scientific thought
of the last century."
* The oroblem consists in
trisecting the general angle,
using only a straight edge and
a pair of compasses.
Yoï must not ìelect certain special anglæ,
as, for example, a right angle,
for this one CAN be trisected,
but it is impossible to do this in
CBNER,\L.
t See Tl¡¿ Queen of the Sciences,
bv E. T. Bell,
a'great American mathematician.
6o
This is not the Place to tell
among them the light it has shed on
the solution of algebraic equations.
But do see the little book
"Galois and the Theory of GrouPs"
mentioned on page 58.
(z) Another vital branch of
Modern Mathematics
is
The Theory of Transfinites,
developed by
Georg Cantor
around r895.
Let us take a brief look at
one of its basic ideas which
difiers very much from
some of the postulates
to which we are accustomed in
elementary mathematics,
and which we sometimes mistake for
"commor,t senset'
onlv because we ARE
iusi accustomed to them.
For instance:
Most people would undoubtedly say
that tñe fbllowing statement is
surely an "eternal veritY":
THE \MHOLE IS GREATER THAN
ITS PARTSI
'\NY OF
Not only did we learn this in
the geometry class, l1'
you might even saY that
âny fool knows this to be true,
knôws that a five-inch line is
6r
 I

longer than a three-inch one which I

is only a part of it-

I

this is "common sense"! I

But you will soon see that l

even this statement about l

the WHOLE and the PART !

\' Ì

is NOT an eternal verity! 'i.

i
1

Suppose you know that

a certain stadium
;ï"
l I
lll

has a capacity of 5o,ooo;

and suppose that !I l'|!

fi
on a certain day, ,,å'i l¡
as you look around in the stadium, t'
,
you find that ,

every seat is occupied by one person

and there is no one standing,
you will surely agree that
there are iust as many people
in the stadium
as there are seats-
in other words,
you know that there are
5o,ooo people present,
even though you have not counted them.
That is to say,
if two sets
(in this case
the set of seats and {*
the set of people)
are in one-to-one correspondence-
I
,i

il
i.e. every person has a definite seat,
and each seat is filled by one person-
then the number of individuals in each set it
i

is the SAME- !

i.e. the number of people

6z
67
 is the SAME as
the number of seats. Thus there is a
one-to-one correspondence between
Now let us apply this idea to the two sets,
an INFINITE SBT the set of people and the set of seats,

like the r.t oi*t ot" numbers: and, therefore,

as you agreed on pages 6j-64,
l, 2, 3, the number of people
is the SAME as
And now let us suppose that the number of seats.
tnese are seat numbers_
seat ¡o. r, seat no. z, etc., etc.
Further, All this sounds
let us assign these seats to simple and innocent enough,
people who, BUT
g{l.j'g idenrified by their names, it leads to
i::,:ll
are- rdentified instead by NUMBER, a most amazing conclusion!
as follows: For,
according to what has just been said,
r, the total number of numbers in
Yr.. Mr. 4_,_Madame 6, Miss g, etc. each row on page 64
(using EVEN numbers only heie).
is the SAME-
And, finally, and yet,
Iet us assign these seats to these peoule the set of numbers in the second row,
in the following specific *"nn.r,'--t-- being only the EVEN numbers,
is PART of
Seats t 1
to the set of numbers in the first row,
a
4 6 20 since the first row also contains
5
all the EVEN numbers, and lots more! {ft
Note that in each case Thus we are obliged to admit that
the person's number is the ENTIRE set of numbers
double the seat number.
Thus it is easy to find out l, 2, 3,
that Seat 5o would be occupied bv
roo, '
the_ Person whose number is^ is EQUAL to
and, a PART of itself,
Person 8z would be namely,
in Seat 4r, the EVEN numbers only!
etc. What then becomes of
the "eternal verity" on Page 6r that
64
65
 THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN
,.{NY OF ITS PARTS?
a a
Obviously then
it is NOT an "eternal verity" at all!
It is merely a Postulate which
holds for FINITE sets, but
NOT for INFINITE sets.

3. Plenty of Freedom-But NOT to LIEI

I
But you are probably
no longer shocked by this
t
since you know by now that
the POSTULATES which govern
any branch of mathematics
(like the RULES which govern any game)
depend upon the game,
and you may invent i,
any system or game f11

you wish. irl

And all this has

t
nothing whatever to do with
"'eternal veritiesr" lr
{rì

does it?
lt
:,
The enormous importance that
the Theory of Transfinites has ,l
in ALL of mathematics
reads like a fairy tale.*

Let me inject
a WORD of CAUTION here-
" See "Infinity" by
Lillian R. Lieber,
with drawings by
Hugh G. Lieber,
published by Holt, Rinehart and 'Winston.

66 67
 LEST WE FORGET that
FREEDOM in mathematics
MUST be accompanied by
RESPONSIBILITY:
And so,
though we now have
this NEW FREEDOM to
ilvent any postulates we wish,
STILL
we have also the RESPONSIBILITy of
seeing to it that
ti the postulates for any system
I
MUST NOT CONTRADICT EACH OTHER
just as,
in inventing any game
one must also see to it
that the rules of the game
do not contradict eaCh other,
or it would be impossible
to play the game or
to use the system!
Thus, a
RESTRICTION upon your FREEDOM
rn maklng up
a new system or game
ls
to be sure it is
NOT SELF-CONTRADICTORY!
In other words,
the basic SIN in mathematics is
to LIE!
For if one postulate
contradicts another
(in t_he same system, of
they belie each ôther,
do they not?
68
Of course if you make up
a Postulate Set which
you wish to APPLY to the outside world,
as in the physical sciences,
o¡ in the social sciences,
there is a FURTHER RESTRICTION in that
you cannot select the postulates quite
so arbitrarily,
for, they must
NOT ONLY be NON-SELF-CONTRADICTORY
but MUST ALSO be
APPROPRIATE to the FACTS involved:
thus, if it is
a Postulate Set for Physics, I
it must be in agreement with
the experimental data-
ì'
remember the great triumph of
i!
The Einstein Theory of Relativity *
which agreed with
so many experimental facts which
had not been previously explainedl
And if you try to build
a Postulate Set for the ll,
lt1
Social Sciences,
Ihope you will agree with me that llr
one of the postulates should be: ir'
It
LIFE FOR THE HUMAN RACE-
and then of course
the other postulates
MUST NOT CONTRADICT this
and lead to WAR!
course) But more of this in a later chapter
'See Chapter IV.
69
 i

,{nd so I submit that to invent

mathematics can shed light on NEW and DEEPLY SIGNIFICAI"TT i

ideas like mathematical ideas!

FREEDOM With RESPONSIBILITY These are not onlY
as agâinst LICENSE! interesting and useful,
That mathematics can clear up the error of but, I

mistaking man-made rules for bv their very HONESTY,

"eternal verities"; gíu. ot a sense of
that it can show the
I

SECURITY I

complete inadequacy of
:

which we so desperatd seek,

the BIG LIE as and which
ltl
a basis for no liar can give us for long- I
I

any system of thought! for when wé find him (or her) ouÇ
And therefore I submit that and this is sure to follow as
mathematics is full of the night the day,
,

HUMAN VALUES, our disgust is deeP I

and not a machine for and our faith in human nature I

counting fast bucks! is terribly shaken.

I

It

It must be obvious even from Perhaps this is lr

this short discussion

I

what is bothering our Youth todaY. ll

that Perhaps they feel that lr

mathematics is full of they have been lied to

HTGH-POWERED IMAGINATION, too often, li

without resorting to the and do not have

ll

BIG LIE! sufficient oooortunitv il

And therefore it is quite to see H unhnN NnfUnn as it functions in

lr:
i¡

unnecessary and undesirable i

mathematics- :ll

to encourage lying as a method of with

developing the "imagination," IMAGINATION,
as is advocated by some people who HONESTY,
are familiar only with SUCCESS,
the picayune and unconvincing SECURITY.
"imagination" of the 'We must not ofier them less!
LIAR,
big or small,
and who do not know about
the truly great imagination it takee
7o 7t
 III. LOGIC

r. A Way of Life
Perhaps you are impressed by the fact that
now we have
MANY geometries instead of only one
(the Euclidean Geometry we studied in school),
and MANY algebras (see Chapter II)
instead of only one,
and perhaps you are even willing to admit
that these are USEFUI-
but are you saying
"What is the good of it all when,
with all this mathematics
and logic
and science,
MAN is really
NOT improving his condition,
but is steadily going DOWN hill
toward ever more horrible wars
with ever more dreadful weapons,"
and indeed you may be thinking that
it is that very growth of
mathematics and
logic and
scrence
which is the CAUSE of this
deterioration in Man's condition?!
Is it not the Scientists themselves
who are leading us down this
dreadful path?
And therefore what we
desperately need is
NOT mo¡e mathematics, etc.,
72
 yet he is NOT free to do
just ANYTHING-
for instance,
he cannot build his life on
the theory of
the BIG LIE
(as Hitler advocated!) ;

(z) furthermore
a PROPER study of mathematics
shows us the tremendous importance of
our ATTITUDES,
how we can change
not only our environment,
but OURSELVES,
by getting rid of
the most deep-seated
PREIUDICES,
which we used to consider to be
"eternal veritiesr"
but now know are
indeed ONLY PREJUDICES
and CAN be CHANGED and ADIUSTED
as occasion demands this
for our own GOOD;
(3) that a proper study of mathematics
shows us also that
changes are not made
lightly and flippantly,
but only after thorough examination
and deep thought
(NOT BY VTOLENCE!),
thus showing us
how to be a
CONSERVATIVE PROGRESSIVE;
(4) and thus what looked like
FAILURE for a long time
74
 eventually turned into a one of SEMANTICS-
wonderful SUCCESS *- what is the meaning of the word
if we give it the necessary "Scientist"?
TIME and THOUGHT and PATIENCE This is rcally a very loose term,
and do not resort to and means anything from
either VIOLENCE a maker of bombs to
or to the other extreme of the great philosophic men
iust STANDING STILL (like Einstèin, Newton, and others)
without making any progress ât alll who abho¡ the very idea of
making bombs,
These are all very valuable and feel that
lessonsfor living, a PROPER study of Science
do you not think so? is basically concerned with
LIFE for the human race
But this is only the beginning: (see Einstein's statement in Note t, p. r4z)
before you have finished reading and is basically
this little book, OPPOSED TO DESTRUCTION:
perhaps you will agree that
mathematics can really be Do you remember Einstein's famous
a way of life. TELEGRAM TO THE PEOPLE
in which he \MARNS of *
z. SAM the overwhelming responsibility
to harness atoms
But you are still troubled by for BENEFIT of MANKIND
the scientists who make and NOT for humanity's destructionl
nuclear bombs (see Note 4p. r4z)
and who are working on
CBR (chemical, biõlogical and radiological) W'e shall come back to this
WARFARE, important question
are you not? in Chapter V.
\Mhat "VALUES" have these scientists In the meantime,
derived from their study of to avoid the confusion arising from
mathematics and the various meanings of the wo¡d
logic and "Scientist,"
science? let us avoid. this word altogether,
I believe that the difficulty here is and make up a new word
* Remember "The Great Discovery," Ch. I.
' See Note r, p. r42.
76 77
which we can define
without the confusion mentioned above:
4
--44t
this word is SAM, :fr
.o'{i.
originally derived from I
Science, Art, Mathematics,
but better thought of as follows
L

the S represents our "observations"

(what we see and hear with our senses # r-¡lf
and with the aid of instruments),
the A represents our "intuition"
(which helps us to select
the basic postulates for a system
to deal with these observations-
of which we shall say more later),
and the M represents
the deductive processes by which è-.
valid conclusions are drawn {- x
from the postulates.

Thus the total word SAM

is DEFINED to be \
one who uses
the BEST PROCEDURES of
mathematics, logic, and science
for the BASIC demand of
LIFE FOR THE HUMAN RACE. --

And so "SAM" better represents

the idea of a "true" Scientist,
meaning one who is
UNALTERABLY OPPOSED TO DESTRUCTION,
as being basically CONTRADICTORY
to the SPIRIT of Science.

But, as I said before,

more of this in
79
78
 Chapter V. Then B FOLLOWS from this, namelY:
And for more about SAM, If a person lives OUTSIDE of
see Míús,
'Wits and Logic
New York State then
another book in this series. he lives also OUTSIDE of
New York City.
3. Modern Logic (Note that this may be seen from
the same diagram, above.)
And now let us see Then B is l-ogical here.
what the new, modern approach
has done for
Logic itself, Although diagrams are sometimes
convenient for this PurPose,
and what HUMAN VALUES
they would not serve as a
there are here also.
PROOFI
First of all let me say a proper PROOF of a proPosition
that a single statemänt, is to show,
I

taken by itself, step by step,

cannot be said to be
how it is derived from
either Logical or lllogical.
the basic set of postulates of
It is only when a siven svstem.
a statement, B,
Víe shalÍ soon illustrate this.
l FOLLOWS FROM a given statement, A,
that B is said to be Logical. .As was stated in ChaPter II,
For example, it is the new Boolean Algebra
take as statement A: (the Algebra of Classes)
An inhabitant of New York City is which applies to Logic,
an inhabitant of New York State, and we shall therefore give You
which may be represented by the diagram: in this Chapter
a complete list of postulates
'l
for this algebra,
I
and illustrate how
propositions of Logic are "proved"
from the postulates.
N.ïc.
But first let me rePeat what
was said in ChaPter II:
one of the remarkable achievements rl

of Boolean Algebra is
that it has simpliñed
fV.Y STATE traditional logic
8o 8r
 bv startins with
to such an extent that a'set of PÓsrulRrES for
the venerable subiect of logic, Boolean Algebra
first invented waY back, (the Algebrã of Classes)'
centuries ago,
bv Aristotle himself, But first
aid carried on through the ages a few brief exPlanations
by many learned scholars, are in order:
cán oo* be summed uP in
ONLY FIVE LINES! IrI the "elements" in this algebra are

If you are interested in ' ' "CLASSES"

thé intricate details of (NOT numbers, as in ordinary algebra);
the old style logic
(which, by the way, (z) the SUM and PRODUCT
of two classes
is still being taught II'
are defined on P. 5r of ChaPter
in many college courses in logic!)
W'e rePeat them here
with its many kinds of
for Your convenience:
SYLLOGISMS,
"categorical"
"hypothetical,"
"disiunctive,"
and'the ridiculous "mnemonic" of
"artificial words,"
which fevons,
a well-icnown British logician
in r88r (l)
described as a
d.+b
"device of a barbarous and the SUM of classes a and b
wholly unscientific çþ¿1¿ç[s¡"- is the comPlete shaded area,
and yet is still being taught to as shown;
students of logic
NOW in 196r!-
I say, if you are interested in
these gruesome details,
you can look it uP
in the book referred to on P. 8o
of this Chapter.

But here let us get down to business ab

and do it in the MODERN WAY' 83
8z
 the PRODUCT of classes a and b
is the area COMMON to both, c.
(a) the symbol "o" stands for
the "null" class-
for example
b "'
a-
here ab: o has closure under addition
since the two classes, a and b,
have nothing in common;
they do not overlap;
l¿) the svmbol "t" stands for
' " th" 'íuniverse classr"
meaning the class containing
ALL the classes:
thus if we start with
the set of all positive integers,
l, 2, 3,
and represent the entire set
by the rectangle in
the following figure:
I
84
then if the class e contains
all the EVEN numbers onlY,
then obviously
all the ODD numbers are in
class e',
which is called
the "complement" of class e,
and of course
ele':r;
lcl some sets of elements have
"alorure" under a certain operation-
thus, for examPle, to saY that
the set of EVEN numbers
means that
the SUM of any two EVEN numbers
is itself an EVEN number;
whereas to say that
the set of ODD numbers
does NOT have closure under addition
means that
the SUM of any two ODD numbers
is NOT itself an ODD number-
thus 3 +7 ro (an EVEN number).
-
4. Postulate Set for Boolean Algebra.
læt us now give a list of
POSTULATES (basic rules)
for Boolean Algebra:
from the definitions of
SUM and PRODUCT of two classes (p. lt)
we mav sav that
the AÉebia of Classes has
"closurä" under addition and also
85
"closure" under multiplication, (l) "*b:b*a;
which may be expressed by (6) ab -ba;
(t) t -|b : c, a unique class,
(Z)
"(b
* c) : ab f ac;
-
i.e., adding two classes of the system So far, these seven Postulates
gives a result which is hold also in I

itself a class in this the ordinary algebra of 1

universe class.
real numbers:
i.e.,
Similarly the two "closure" laws,
iãi ¡PPITION and MULTIPLICATION'
(z) ab: c, another unique class,
the number o which,
says that when ADDED to anY real number
the PRODUCT of two classes leaves that number unchanged,
is itself a class in this universe class
and the ordinary "unity" element,
(even if the PRODUCT happens to be
the number r, which
the "null" class, as on p. 84). *f,"" H4UIT1PLIED by any real number,
leaves that number unchanged;
Further then (<) and (6) are
the uìíál "commutative laws"
(c) afo:a i"i ÀboluoN and MULTIPLICATION,
(i.e., adding the null class to
so familiar to us in
a given class, a,
the algebra of real numbers;
leaves a unchanged)
and of course (7) is
(+) tx r-a usuallv referred to as
(i.e., the part common to the "åistributive law"-
any class, a, and but had better be described
the universe class, r, bv saving that
is the class a itself, thus: nruirlÞIICATIoN is
DISTRIBUTIVE over

I
ADDITION,
as shown i" (Z).

But now we find in

Boolean Algebra,
ñorHnñ. DISTRIBUTIVE LAw-
in which
87
86
 ADDITION is a+c-124567,
DISTRIBUTIVE over so that
MULTIPLICATION, thus: b)(a f c which is
toafbanda+c
(8) n+ (bc) : (a*b)(af c) ls
which is certainly NOT true for n456,
real numbers,
as we see in the following illustration: the SAME result as was obtained
from a * bc. i,

5*(zxÐ+(l+r)(sf¡),
since the left-hand side So that here
is equal to 5 * 6 which equals rr, the STRANGE DISTRIBUTIVE LAW (8)
whereas the right-hand side really does hold.
is equal to 7 X 8 which equals 56,
and rr * 56, Further,
does it?
\/' a*a':r
lo)
(see the definition of
But (8) DOES hold for CL-ASSES,
as shown in the following diagram: 'ìcomplement" on p. 85);

a b
(ro)'since
aa':
' o
there is nothing in common
to any class a and its comPlement a':
as, for example,
the class of EVEN numbers
has nothing in common with
the class of ODD numbers;

(r r ) there are AT LEAST TWO

DIFFERENT
c elements in the system.

here a equals the areas r 245 These eleven postulates constitute

and bc equals the areas 56; the Algebra of Classes,
therefore known as Boolean Algebra,
I a*bc-n456, which suffices to express
AND all of Traditional Logic in
rl

a+b-n3456and, ONLY FIVE LINES_

88 89
 if vou are interested in
r"éing just how this is done,
you cãn find the necessary details
in Chapter XVII of the book
previously mentioned,
Mits,Wits and Logic. b
5. Ar Amazing Practical Application
d-+b
But here I would rather Fie. I
show another illustration
of a marvellous and let the PRODUCT ab mean
application of Boolean Algebra connecting them "in series,"
toã very "practical" problem asin Fig. z:
made by F. E. Hohn
in the Éell Telephone Laboratories.*
Hohn showed how to use
Boolean Algebra b
to eftect tremendous ECONOMIES d.b
in electrical circuits!

to understand this Fie.2.

a few definitions will first be necessary:
Now, since any switch can be only l

ttopen" or "closedr"
Let a, b, c, etc., represent switches;
let r represent we can have only
the condition of a switch being the following possible combinations
"closedr" for a pair of switches:
and o the condition of a switch being
ttopen.t' SUMS
ofo:o
Further, rfo:r
let the SUM of two switches mean ofr:r L

connecting them "in parallel," rfr:r '

I

as in Figure r:
i
I

* See "Some Mathematical Aspects of Switching" PRODUCTS

by F. E. Hohn, o)(o:o
in the American Mathemdtical Monthly, r\o:o
vol. 6z (1955) pp. 7r-9o.
91
go
 oXr:o Here a is an electromagnet which,
lXr:r when activated,
attracts the spring b,
which means, of course, that thus making an electrical contact at a,
when the switches are \ and breaking it at a'; '
connected in parallel (sum), and when a is NOT magnetized,
then the entire circuit (a * b) spring b jumps back and
is "open" ( only if
- o)are
BOTH switches "open" ( o) I
makes contact at a'
and breàks it at a-
- so that contact at both a anda'
And when the switches are cannot occur SIMULTANEOUSLY'
connected in series (product), that is they have nothing in common
then the circuit is "open" ( : o), and are therefore each other's
that is, the current CANNOT flow COMPLEMENTS (see P. 85).
in ALL cases, EXCEPT
when BOTH switches are "closed" ( : r). If we noq have an electrical circuit
as shown in Fig. 4:
Both tables given on pp.9r-92,
it should be noticed,
are in agreement with
the POSTUI-ATES forBoolean Algebra (pp. 86-89). -q--þ-C
a. ç
(Some of them follow directly from
the postulates themselves, d-{-c
and the others can be
easily proved from them.) -þ'-
F;94
Finally, with nine contacts,
a'is defined as shown in Fig. 3: we may represent it ALGEBRAICALLY
(in Boolean Algebra)
B by the function:
d' f -abc{ab'c {ah'c
(See Hohn's definitions of
a SUM and PRODUCT
onp.86).

A r Fie. õ
We may now transform this function
as follows:
97
92
f c ab + ab' * a'b') by Postulate bv a iudicious INTERPRETATION of
b+b') *a'b'l --
7
c a by Postulate 7 túe bäsic terms (like o, I, sum, product, etc.),
a I) t by Postulate and of course many, manY other
af a,b'f^h'l - 9
Postulate 4 APPLICATIONS
(afa')(af b,)l -by Postulate 8 are possible-
(') (a + b')l -by
c a+b') - by Postulate
by Postulate
9
4
you may even solve
some difficulty of your own,
- entirely difierent irom the one given above,
which is, of course, by mai<ing a proper, but difierent,
equivalent to the given function INTERPRETATION
and will produce of the basic terms-
the same desired efiect. IT IS UP TO YOUI
If we translate this back
into a diagram, 6. But A¡e There Any HUMAI\ VALUES here?

we have the situation shown in Fig. 5: 'Well, it is obvious that

whenever we behave like
a. SAM,
using the data (S),
c I a Postulate Set
b (similar to the one given above,
ùtrictr demanded the intuition, A,
F.''g'5 of the great George Boole),
and deãucing (M) from the Postulates
with only THREE contacts, various equivalent statements,
thus resulting in a large economy of we make the kind of
"hardwarer" PROGRESS
without loss of effectl that is so essential
whenever we have to
We thus see THINK STRAIGHT,
how very USEFUL and not iust go around in qircles
these new algebras are. as so many people do who
are not acquainted with
And is it not trulltrnazing how the POSTULATIONAL METHOD
the ABSTRACT SET of POSTULATES for described above,
Boolean Algebra (pp. 86-89) And of course
can be APPLIED to, say, we must alwaYs bear in mind
electrical circuits thet SAM is, BY DEFINITION,
94 95
 one who uses showing how
the BEST procedures of such a postulate set
mathematics, logic, and science is really
for the BASIC demand of BEHIND THE SCENES
LIFE FOR THE HUMAN RACE, in Science (and mathematics) itself-
and therefore CANNOT, and may be called
without CONTRADICTION, METASCIENCE (and METAM,\THEMATICS)'
be used for the (see Note z p.t44.)
DESTRUCTION Of HUMAN LIFE Without which
Science itself,
See again as well as Mathematics,
Einstein's TELEGRAM TO THE PEOPLE' could not exist!
part of which is given in Note r on P. 142.
From this point of view
7. Behind the Scenes in Sciencel it is obvious that
anyone engaged in the making of
In other words, destructive weapons,
the HUMAN VALUE of the without a deep UNDERSTANDING
POSTULATIONAL METHOD of the METASCIENCE,
described above should really not be called
will be evident a Scientist at all,
if we can set up for he is just a mechanical ROBOT-
â proper POSTULATE SET a mere GOLEM *-
for HUMAN BEHAVIOR- who MUST be controlled bY
which I shall attempt to do SCIENCE in its DEEP SENSE,
in Chapter V. as discussed above,
and will be discussed more in detail
Furthermore, in Chapter V.
I shall there
attempt to show, also, * A Golem, in |ewish legend, is
how intimate is the relationship an artificial man,
between such a Postulate Set especially one created by
and th^e cabálist Rabbi LoE'w of Prague
at the end of the r6th century:
SCIENCE and MATHEMATICS- hence, an automaton
not only by (cf. Frankenstein)l
the very idea of using a
POSTULATE SET,
but also by
96 97
 IV. EQUAL RIGHT
AND EQUAL SUCCESS

Thns far we have seen

that
many and various branches
of mathematics
are possible
and that they can all
co-exist,
each useful for
specific and various problems.

But how about

the actual PHYSICAL WORLD-
are we as free there
to make up
various postulates,
or are we held down there
by the actual physical "facts"-
(in addition to the
restrictions imposed by the
METAMATHEMATICS
(See Note z, p.r44.)

The answer is
"Yes, of course,
BUT you will soon see .a¡
D,
how even here
there is
considerable freedom for
various observers
to study the universe
from their own viewpoints.
98 99
 Or is it the right to be "wrong"?
with
equal right and equal success,
Or is it riehts of the
as Einstein expressed.
ü"r^g"m"an VERSUS the "egghead"?

r. What is DemocracY? Is it anti-democratic to

Many people speak of óIFTERBNTIATE between individuals-
democracy, is it fair to "draft" everyone
but, into the infantrY
as is true of instead of givin! sPecial PeoPle
many other words, special training in
the meanings are not always the same science,
and not always clear. music,
att,
Thus, to some etc., etc.?
"democracy" means that
evervone shall have Now let us see whether
the iight to decide any light can be shed on this Point
every issue; bv'anèxamination of
issues which arise in
to others it means that Modern Mathematics and
everyone shall have Modern PhYsics.
the right to
SELECT REPRESENTATIVES
who will then be the ones z. Invariants under a Transformation'
to decide the issues; This illustrates very well how
democracy functions in
and there may be still other mathemaiics and science.
definitions of "democrãcY"
-
Suppose, for examPle,
for instance, that vou wish to measure
everyone should have "equal rights" the distance between two Points,
but equal rights for WHAT? A and B,
but there is an obstruction
Is it the right to (like a mountain or a lake)
I
grow and develop between them,
and do one's best so that you cannot go directlY
for humanity?
lor
loo
 from one of the points to the other, Draw the line AX
i
as shown in Figure r: lavoiding the obstruction)
a ànd AY þerpendicular to AX
Ithese are called the axes
B òr a "coordinate sYstem")
and then through B
draw another line, Y,
ll A parallel to AY as shown;
and now rePresenhng
I

Fi9. l. the distancê betweett A and B bY d,

L

we have,
A clever man,
bv the well-known
call him Mr. K
Pythagorean Theorem,
(This symbol was used by Einstein
in his ü_*+f
Special Theory of RelativitY,
and therefore
way back in r9o5!),
would suggest that you can d:1Pfi (')
solve the problem Thus,
in the following way, bv mêasuring the distances x and Y,
using Figure z: ,,á., .m theñ CALCULATE
itr" RBOUIRED distance d
bv meañì of formula (r),

*f,' Y ts
I
*ithout measuring it DIRECTLY'
Of course an equaþ clever man,
v I sav, Mr. K',
v "ould
hnu" drawn the line AX
(instead of AX),
ànd AY'perPendicular to AX
Tlrr"r usiåe ä different coordinate system,)
î à"¿ th." ãt"*tt a line parallel to AY',
\ f namelv v'-
x and hé óould EQUALLY well
find the distance d
A x .X by the PYthagorean formula
d- { v'
Ft1. ?, Note that even though
to2 103
K and K'have DIFFERENT
lt
coordinate systems,
that
xt'{
is,
and
Y
y +t',
still they do agree on SOMETHING- B
in this case, the value of d;
and we say that
ê

is an INVARIANT
VæTT
under the
A{ Fi9.5.
rotation of axes shown in Fig. z.
And of course there are
And even if still another many, many other "coordinate systems"
clever man, Mr. K' which can also serve the same purpose,
used a coordinate system all giving the SAME value of d.
AX" and AY",
which are not even perpendicular But what has all this to do with
to each other, DEMOCRACY?!
as shown in Fig. 3, 'Well, you can easily see that
and then drew a line through B whereas K, K, K'and
parallel to AY", all others interested in
there is another formula the problem of finding the
(NOT the Pythagorean Theorem, distance between A and B,
but one known to anyone who can do so with
has studied a little Trigonometry), ..EQUAL RIGHT AND EQUA,L SUCCESS,''
namely, even though they all use
DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS,
that is,
even though
where 0 is the angle shown in Fig. 3, each one approaches the problem
by means of which in his own way!
the distance d can be CALCULATED Now, is not this
by different but the ESSENCE of DEMOCRACY?
appropriate measurements
here. And is it not CLEARER THAN
the assortment of
to4
ro5
i1

definitions of DemocracY
given on PP. roo-ror?
z
You will remember that
it was mentioned on P. 1o2 B
that it was Einstein,
way back in r9o5,
B
who first named .t
t}re clever gentleman K
in connection with his Z
Special Theory of RelativitY.
If vou are intérested in knowing D
how this came uP in A ^
Einstein's TheorY of RelativitY,
vou may wish to look it uP in )(
I ,y X
änotheibook in this series, -Jr¿
The Einstein Theory of RelatfuitY
by Lillian R. Lieber
with drawings bY F;"g,*
Hugh G. Lieber,
published bY ð,- væ +TTÃ,
iïolt, Rinehart and Winston. Now, if instead of
revolving the axes
I-et us nolv see whether as we did before,
,/3TT we revolve AB to â new Position AB',
the result is the same
is still an INVARIANT
in In other words,
under a ROTATION of AXES
the INVARIANT here is
THREE dimensions,
as shown in Fig. 4: + +
here the point B has
THREE coordinates,
(: (- Bc) But how about \/?Tfr
nameþ, x (: AD , y DC), and z
where z is to
the PLANE AX and AY, You may regard lÏ'Jf as
and, as you ProbablY knoq
merely the SHADOW of d
hered2:x'-fy'+* on the XY plane,
and therefore
to7
ro6
 I

il

ri and you can easily see that should NOT be POINTS

(as in Newtonian physics),
I

I when d is moved to
the new position AB',
and a new perpendicular from B'
is dropped on the XY plane,
meeting it at a point C'
instead of C,
l
but rather EVENTS-
and of course an event is
a FOUR-dimensional element
since it occurs at a certain
longitude,

then the new SHADOW of AB', latitude,

altitude and
i
namely \/llT"TßT; time,
. is NOT equal to or, more generally, it has
FOUR coordinates, namely,
the former shadow, V{Tfl, xryrzrr
so that (r being not the "time" itself
but a quantity related to it
l
Vï'+7 is
which Einstein found to be useful),
NOT an INVARIANT here. and therefore proceeded to
Thus, in mathematics, look for the INVARIANTS
ri we do not look for UNDER A SPECIFIC TRANSFORMATION,
ETERNAL VtrRITIES, known as the LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION +-
l but make a much more modest request: if you are interested in the details of this,
l
you can find them in the book
to find what are the INVARIANTS referred to on p. ro6.
under a SPECIFIC transformation. The Einstein Theory of Relativity
,l And he found that
l And, indeed,
when Einstein're-examined
d_ \/:Flf ¡¿r¡1
i
the physical universe and that
because it became necessary to do so /
since new data produced by + + + { + >,, +
Michelson and Morley (about 1887) which means that
no longer fitted in to K, using the coordinates
¡
the Newtonian system of the universe- xryrzrl
l

I say, when Einstein was thus

forced to re-examine and I(, using a different set of axes
the physical universe, and getting the coordinates
he suggested first of all that xr, yr, zr, r,
the ELEMENTS to be used * See Note
7,p.r47
ro8 109
BOTH,AGREB on the SAME value of d,
IN SPITE OF THEIR DIFFERENCES:
NAMELY
x*{, ! *Y', zt' 2t, r * ¡',
and furthermore
\R +7+\/EWOry
(iust as on P. ro8 of this chaPter)
ând indeed here
we even have
ßT7Tæ+ffi.
This last statement is
MOST STARTLING,
since it saYs that
the LENGTH of an object
as measured bY K
is DIFFERENT from
the length of the SAME obiect
as measured bY K'-
in other words,
Einstein found that
the LENGTH OF AN OBJECT
is NOT an INVARIANT
úñopn THE LoRENTZ TRANSFoRMATIoN
(Note ¡),
ùut is more like a SHADOW
(as on pP. 1o7-1o8 of this chaPter),
and further
the invariant d on P. 1o9
r Ñor the DISTÀNCE BETwEEN PoINTS
(as is the LENGTH of an object)
but is rather
thc SPACE-TIME INTERVAL
X?)'+L'+T': (
BETWEEN TWO EVENTS' d (t')i(z¡T(¡')"
which is the
INVARIANT in our
F.oÙN-PTN,IENTIONAL SPACE-TIME \MORLD'
110 111
under the his own coordinãte system
(his own "viewpoint")
Lorentz Transformation (see p. 47 Note 3). but he is RESTRICTED by
The reader cannot be expected his own set of postulates
as well as by the
to fully appreciate this
without further details, METAMATHEMATICS
but what we hope he behind the scenes.*
CAN appreciate
is the general idea that Thus you.see that in
two DIFFERENT observers, both mathematics and arÇ
call them K and I(, as well as in science,
using DIFFERENT coordinate systems there is FREEDOM of choice
(difierent "viewpoints" ) to a certain extent,
and difiering also in many other ways but it is NOT an ALL-OUT FREEDOM
(see p. rro), (Anarchy)
may still find AGREEMENT and therefore there is no resentment
on the INVARIANTS under against certain controls.
a given transformation
and may thus study the physical universe And it is this combination of
WITH EQUAL RIGHT AND EQUAL SUCCESS. FREEDOM and CONTROL
that have made
In other words, mathematics and science
in spite of many differences between both CREATIVE and CONSERVATIVE,
various observers, as you have seen.
like K and K, No doubt you will agree that
they can find SOMETHING to AGREE on. this COMBINATION of
FREEDOM and CONTROLS
Neither one CAN SERVE AS A MODEL
has COMPI,ETE freedom for THINKING about ANYTHING-
to do just ANYTHING he wants- whether it be Democracy
that is, or Censorship
there is NO ANARCHY here- or whatever.
and, * If you wish to know more about
on the other hand, METAMATHBMATICS,
there is also see the very illuminating paper
"Elementary Topics in Mathematical Logic"
NOT COMPLETE REGIMENTATION, by Alonzo Church of Princeton University,
since K and K' etc. briefly summarized in
may each have Note z, p.r44.

tt2 rr3
 do NOT correspond
3. To Sum Up to the new observations,
A. If you are dealing with you will have to make
any branch of CHANGES
PURE mathematics, in the mathematical system
you must ask, which you have been using
(r) What are the ELEMENTS? since it does not correspond to the
(z) Wttat are the OPERATIONS? "facts.t'
(3) What are the POSTULATES?
This is exactly what happened
and, of course, when new observations were made
(4) What are the RESTRICTIONS by Michelson and Morley in 1887,
imposed by which did NOT correspond to
thc METAMATHEMATICS? the mathematical system of
Newtonian physics,
B. If you are dealing with in which
POINTS were the ELEMENTS and
any branch of TIME was the SAME for
I
APPLIED mathematics all observers.
t,
(whether applied to physics And it was EINSTEIN, in r9o5,
or whatever) who suggested that if
you must ask, EVENTS were taken as ELEMENTS,
in addition to the four questions and if each observer,
mentioned in A above say K and I(,
also: had his OWN TIME,
(5) Have you made t and t' respectively
CAREFUL OBSERVATIONS Einstein could then develop
in the domain in question? a NEW system
(the Special Theory of Relativity)
(6) Have you derived the which not only
CONSEQUENCES from more adequately
your postulate set, corresponded to the
and CHECKED THEM actual physical universe
against further observations known up to that time,
perhaps discovered later? but,
when he developed it further, in r9r5,
And of course if you find that
into the
General Theory of Relativity,
the "consequences"
115
tt4
he was able to
PREDICT observations which
had NOT YET been made,
but which,
when checked,
proved to be CORRECT!
But Einstein knew perfectly well
that his system, too,
would be valid only until
further observations would be made
which would necessitate
further changes in the system.
Or, as he put it,
..ALLES WAS WIR MACHEN IST FALSCH''
(Everything we make is false-
that is, in the long run.)
But this does not happen every minute,
so that physicists now know
perfectly well
that they, even now,
do not know THE truth,
and probably never will,
and yet,
for the time being,
they have a system
that works very well:
they rely on
the INVARIANTS under
certain specific transformations,
without mistaking these for
ETERNAL VERITIES.
And, of course, this means that
each one must make his
measurements ACCURATELY,
must make his
calculations CORRECTLY,
must think LOGICALLY-
r16
all these so that they are
ACCEPTABLE tO
the best mathematicians,
the best scientists,
the best logicians,
who are
CHECKING each other's work
in order to prevent
CONTRADICTIONS,
LIES,
oft
as Professor A. Fraenkel
(of .the Hebrew University)
pults it:
"WOLVES in SHEEP'S CLOTHING."
And he adds,
speaking of
Cantor's Theory of Transfinites
(though it may as well a PPIY
to many other branches of
mathematics, etc., as well):
'We
have succeeded in
building a brick wall
around our flock of sheep,
harling first thrown out
all KNOWN "wolves in sheep's clothing,"
but we can NEVER be sure that
there are not still other
"wolves in sheep's clothing" present,
which we have NOT YET found out,
and must therefore
ALWAYS be on the watch for them
And so the task is NEVER DONE.
In other words,
Mathematics and Science,
as well as Art and
t17
 ANY MATHEMATICS OT SCIENCE.
And therefore, in this sense,
Science is NOT AT ALL AMORAL-
any more than one could have
V. LIFE, LIBERTY AND a fruitful and non-trivial postulate set
THE, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS in mathematics
which is not subject to
the METAmathematical demand for
r. Behind the Scenes CONSISTENCY!
First of all Now, what are some of these OTHER ideas
mav I recall the Behind the Scenes?
BA,SIC IMPORTANCE Of
*
that principle of METAMATHEMATICS z. Lif.e
which DEMANDS that
a set of postulates for ANY sYstem Let me suggest only a very few-
be CONSISTENT, and if we accept these,
that the postulates it will be interesting to see
DO NOT CONTRADICT each other what follows from them.
which meâns of course that Let us take a basic postulate here:
LYING LIFE.
CANNOT SERVE as an For without LIFE
instrument of thought! there can be
Now is not this statement no living thing-
usually considered to be no flowers,
a MORAL PrinciPle? no animals,
And yet no human race-
without it we cannot have also of course
ANY satisfactory mathematical system, no music, no art,
nor ANY satisfactory system of thought- no science,
indeed we cannot evên PLAY a GAME properly no mathematics.
With CONTRADICTORY TUICS!
I am not suggesting that we consider here
In a similar waY, II/HETHER life is worth living,
I wish to make the Point that whether it would make more "sense"
there are other important MORAL ideas to commit suicide,
BEHIND THE SCtrNES, whether it is all just
without which there cannot be "Sound and fury, signifying nothing."
* Note z, p. r44.
I am proposing that
t2t
lza
 LIFE
be taken as a POSTULATE,
and therefore not subject to proof,
just like any other postulate.*
But I propose to MODIFY this
and take more specifically as
POSTUL.ATE I:
The preservation of
LIFE FOR THE HUMAN RACE
is a goal of human efiort.
This does not mean that
we are to go about
wantonly killing animals,
but to do this only when
it is necessary to support
HUMAN life-
for food,
for prevention of disease,
vivisection, etc.
Indeed a horse or dog or other animals,
through their friendliness and sincerity,
might actually HELP to sustain
Man's spirit and faith and even his life.
And I interpret this postulate
also to mean that
so-called "sports,"
like bull-fighting,
or "ganging up" on one little fox-
a whole gang of men and women
(and conupting even horses and dogs
to helpl)-
is really a cowardly act,
I
t remembering how difficult it is,
Please ¡emember that
a POSTULATE is
Not a "SELF-EVIDENT TRUTH"
but only an ASSUMPTION (See Ch. I)
or an UNPROVED THEOREM.
722
so unsportsmanlike that it is amazing
how this activity could ever be called
t'sport."
a
All this is by way of interpreting
the meaning to be given to
Postulate I:
ACCEPTANCE of LIFE for the HUMAN RACE.
Surely everyone will accept the idea that
is definitely present,
behind the scenes,
in science or mathematics.
But this is not all.
For, I take this postulate to mean also
that we are not to limit it to
only a PART of the human race,
as Hitler did,
because this inevitably leads to WAR,
and in this day of
nuclear weapons
and CBR (chemical, biological, radiological)
weâPons,
this would certainly contradict
Postulate I,
would it not?
z. A System of MORALITY
And, if we are trying to suggest
a "SYSTEM" of MORALITY,
as aMETAMATHEMATICAL background,
it must of course itself be CONSISTENT!
May I say at the very outset that
the "SYSTEM" suggested here
makes no pretense of finality(t),
EVEN in MATHEMATICS,
to have a postulate set which is
perfect (see p. r3z, Ch. V)t
rzt
 ta
I
Nevertheless, one must go on, For, when we say that .
one must TRY, a atomic enerw is CREATED'--^
one must do one's BEST,
as in mathematics and sciences.
Í \n: î:îil[îi has been transrormed
And so, let us continue, in all humility, into trNtrRGY,
to try to make since Einstein ihowed that
what can only at best be regarded as MASS and ENERGY are really the same'
tentative suggestions, in his famous equation
in the hope that the basic idea- "t "*pt.tt.d
that theré is a MORALITY behind the ìcenes E:mcz
in Mathematics and Science-
(where E energf,,P,= mass, and
may prove to be helpful -
ttt. velocitY of lightJ ' .
and may be further
ô
-
Thus even in túe case of atomic energy'
irnproved and strengthened
there is no change in
as time goes on.
the TOTAL amount ot energY'
Now,
but merelY a transformation
let us consider a SECOND postulate. from one kind to another'
But first may I recall
what physicists call B. The SECOND LAW of
the two laws of thermodynamics: THERMODYNAMICS
may be stated:
'Whenever there is
A. The Conservation of Energy, namely,
the total energy in a closed system a transformation or flow of enetg1'
is a CONSTANT- it happens alwavs
''''-rlalural"
in a certain DI RtrCTION
it can neither be created nor destroyed,
but only transformed from from a point of higher
one kind of energy to another kind- to one of lower
thus we can transform and never in reverse-
electrical energy into heat. ;'h*;;;;';lw"ys flows DowN hill'
or heat to mechanical energy, etc., heat always flows from
without either a point oi higher temPerature
adding to or subtracting from to one of lowér temPerature'
the total energy. etc., etc.
This FIRST LAW of THERMODYNAMICS
HAS SURVIVED EVEN And the only way
the great and fundamental changes tfrit ¿ii".tioi.r" be reversed
made in PHYSICS by is by FORCING it
the EINSTEIN Theory of RelativitY! in a direction oPPosite to

t24 12,
1
t
thé "natural" flow- must be accompanied by
thus wate¡ must be FORCED uphi[ etc.- RESPONSIBILITY,
this force being supplied by if it is not to lead to
a LIVING WILL. CONFLICT between
More generally, individuals or groups
the tendency formulated by the which would of course
Second Law- CONTRADICT the other postulates
if not counteracted by other tendencies-
would make the physical world All this is of course very DIFFICULT to do,
t'fun dorvnr" "degenerate" to involving
what is sometirnes called "heat death." accepting LIFE without whimpering,
Now it seems that growing without interfering with
living organisms, the growth of others,
and, in particular, HUMAN organisms, in short
are capable of it involves what Goethe called
introducing directions of change "cheerful resignation"
that OPPOSE ( "heitere Resignation" ) .

this degeneration, this death,

this DESTRUCTIVE "DEVIL." But how can this be done?
May I therefore suggest as It seems clear that we must now add

POSTULATE II: POSTULATE Y:

EaCh INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING The PURSUIT of HAPPINESS *
must fight this "degenerâtion," is a goal of human efiort.
must cling to LIFE as long as possible, For without some happiness,
must grow and create- or at least the hope of some happiness
physically and/ or mentally. (the "pursuit" of happiness)
And for this we need it would be impossible
to accept "cheerfully"
POSTUL,.{TE III: the program outlined above.
We must all have the LIBERTY to And such acceptance leads to
so grov/ and create, a calm, sane performance of our work,
without of course interfering in the spirit in which a mathematician
with each other's growth, accepts the postulates of a system
which suggests * The reade¡ may be interested to read
the discussion on "happiness" in
another book of this series:
POSTULATE IY: Mits, Wits and Logíc,
This Freedom or LIBERTY published by W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
n6 t27

and accepts his creative work
based on these-
accepting even the Great Difficulties
which he encounters
and is determined to conquer.
I reneat that the
"PdsruLATEs" FoR MoRALIfi
given above
are very tentative and inadequate.
What I am trying to emphasize is:
that there IS a morality
( r ) which has given us
behind the scenes
in mathematics and science,
that they are NOT AMORAL;
(z) that this tacit MORALITY
must be made EXPLICIT
in order to be effective-
iust as the idea of METAMATHEMATICS
is becoming tremendously efiective
due to its EXPLICIT formulation; *
that, similarly,
the IMPLICIT postulates of MORALITY
behind mathematics and science
(as suggested by the above discussion)
be made EXPLICIT and EFFECTIVE
and thus free these
wonderful human activities from
the false accusation of being
AMORAL.
And I firmly believe that
the results of such a formulation
will re-discover the conclusions
reached by the
great religious leaders and the
* See Note z, p. L44.
rz8
great humanitarians.
But, coming from the
mathematical and scientific camP
it will take a form which will be
more âccessible to more PeoPle,
who may not have
the great INTUITION needed to
arrive at these conclusions
without súch scientific formulation'
May I quote here, in support of-the above,
*
from Einstein's Ouf of My LaterYears:
in speaking of our religious tradition
"the highest principles for
our aspirations and iudgments";
he then adds:
"If one we¡e to take that goal
out of its religious form,
and look metãly at its purely human side,
one might state it perhaps thus:
free anã responsible develoPment
of the individual,
so that he may place his Powers
freely and gládiy in the service of
all mankind."
Do I hear some reader saYing
"But how can you saY that
Science is Noi AMÖRAL when
it gives us atomic energY and
DÕES Nor CARE whether
we use it for peaceful PurPoses or
for making bombs?!"
To which I say that
* Published by the
Philosophical Library in r95o,
P4ge 27.
t29
 since the bomb DESTROYS LIFE,
therefore the ideal pursued by Science
is INCOMPATIBLE with
the consequences that flow from
the use of the BOMB.*
So it is NOT SCIENCE in Man
but the "Devil" in him
whose objective is DESTRUCTION
that is consistent with the bomb.
Indeed, does not the "Devil" in Man
use even
RELIGION itself for DESTRUCTION?
And yet
you would not say that
RELIGION is AMORAL,
would you?
And
to those psychologists who tell
that there is a deep desire
for CONFLICT
in all of us,
may I say that
the above program is
in complete agreement,
BUT
it is the "degenerâtion,"
the "Devil,"
which LIFE MUST FIGHT (see p. rz6, Ch. V)
and it is NOT our "grandmothers"
whom we wish to murder,
as some people wrongly interpret
this BASIC urge to FIGHT the "Devil."
+ In Hiroshima and Nagasaki:l
and have you heard that
the bombardier who threw
the atomic bombs on
those cities
has since gone insane?l
r30
Thus Man,
being, on the one hand,
partbf the physical world
Ithat is, being partly a "thing")
is governed by
the Second l,aw (p. rz5)
like any other "thing."
BUT on the other hand,
thc LIFÊ iN MAN
MUST
according to POSTULATE II
FIGHT this destructive force
within himself.
And this "'W'AR"
demands our greatest efiorts,
so we had better
stop wasting these efforts on
fighting each other
us in contradiction to
Postulates III and IV.
Thus,
the above postulate set
inadequate as it probablY is in
its present form,
is, nevertheless, I submit
behind the scenes in SCIENCE-
in METASCIENCE-
and is in agreement with
the basic principles given us bY
the great religious leaders
and humanitarians,
and is definitely
NOT a POLLYANNISH Program!
It is a TOUGH FIGHT,
which each one of us,
as individuals,
is sure to lose!-
for the Second Law will
r7L
 Surely get us in the end, may be seen from the following:
by Death- Alfred Tarski, the great Logician,
but which says in his
LIFE itself wins! "Introduction to Logic,"
pp. 46, r37
If we accept this ?'Theie aré'only a few deductive theories known
"gladly," of which it has been possible to show
as Einstein says (p. rz9)
that they are
we have that "happiness" (Postulate V)
CONSISTENT and COMPLETE."
without which we could not And further:
"fiþht the good fight"- "Perhaps the most interesting example of
the most interesting and a consistent and comPlete theory
exhilarating is that supplied bY
of all "games"! elementary geometry."
How can anyone say that And again:
Science, "The iituation changes essentiaþ
\4¡ith its "METAscience"
as soon as one goes over to such sciences as
behind the scenes, arithmetic and advanced geometry.
is AMORAL?!
Probably no one
Is it not rather
working in these sciences
the GADGETS themselves, doubts their consistency;
the BOMBS themselves, and yet as has resulted from
that are AMORAL the latest methodological investigations,
(being only "things"),
A StriCt PROOF Of thciT CONSISTENCY
since they will explode,
meets with great difficulties
indifferently, of a fundamental nature.
to kill millions of people or The situation in regard to
ì
I
to build a new harbor- the problem of COMPLETENESS
i
but they are not to be identified with
i
is even worse:
l
the SPIRIT in man which is it turns out that
I in his SCIENTIFIC URGE! " arithmetic and advanced geometrY
are INCOMPLETE;
3. Can We Do It? for it has been possible
Some appreciation of to set up problems of a
the SUBLETY of the demands uPon purely arithmetical or geometrical character
a Postulate Set, that can be
* The urge to CREATE, -to the Earth, the Seas, and now Space,
to climb Mt. Everest, ""..rn¡rr.
and, of course, Human Nature itsçlf!
r32 r77
NEITHER positively NOR negatively decided Thus we have much to learn from
within these disciplines." the methods used in these domains,
And worse yet: even while admitting that
"It might bè supposed that this fact NOTHING thAt MAN dOCS iS PERFECT!
is merèly an outcome of It would seem that
the imperfection of the axiom systems these formidable subtleties
and methods of proof might frighten Man away
at our disposal up to date, entirely
and that ã suitable modification from the pursuit of
(for instance, science and mathematics!
ân extension of the axiom sYstem) But the great research men
may in the future, yield complete systems. are madã of "sterner stuff,"
Deeper investigations, however, and
have shown this coniecture to be erroneous: whereas they continue to dig
NEVER will it be possible to build up- into these subtle foundations,
a consistent and complete deductive theory they, at the same time,
containing as its theorems tinue to build the
all true sentences of "ot
superstructure-
arithmetic or of advanced geometry." anã with tremendous success!
"These exceedingly important achievements
are due to the contemPorary
Austrian logician
K. Gödel."

Is this not reminiscent of

Einstein's famous remark:
"Alles was wir machen ist falsch"
lEvervthins we make is false)?
às w"li as Fiaenkel's remark oi p. rr7, Ch. IV'
.And yet,
let us not forget that,
even though
Mathematics and Science are
NOT PERFECT, .

still they have been

eminently successful,
including of course
Einstein's own work.
t34 r35
 INVARIANTS
that they can agree on.

z. Morality
VI. THE UPSHOT! As we have seen (Ch. V)
Postulational Thinking
r. Postulational thinking is even helpful in
considering a SYSTEM FOR MORALITY
Thus we have seen that And what is the BASIC Postulate
whereas mathematics and science we suggested here?-
are NOT PERFECT (see pp. 133-175, Ch. V), LIFLfor the HUMAN RACE
and, indeed, (as interpreted on PP' r22-r27, Ch. V).
the greater the AREA of our knowledge, Ìt is suggests other Postulates
the greater also becomes (see Ch. V),
the CIRCUMFERENCB in contact with all of which can be
the surrounding UNKNOWN,* acceptable
STILL to both K and K',
with the use of even though theY have
POSTULATIONAL THINKING DIFFERENT coordinate sYstems.
as described in previous chapters,
Man has been able
3. Some Invariants and Some
to make up Difierences
a large variety of systems lr) LIFE-which demands
which can be applied to \ / Invariants:
(a) Sufficient and ProPer food;
the successful solution of ibi Coo¿ l{ealth;
a tremendous variety of problems,
ici gducation-both mental and physical;
âs you have seen. ial
\ / No vIoLENCE!
This postulational method of thinking does NOT g-o
(a real scientist
has even been successfully applied
to the study of the universe itself
t into his laboratorY with an AXE
with which to DESTROY his apparatus,
(Chapter IV), but rather with a well-developed BRAIN,
allowing different observers, and lots of PATIENCE
K and K',
each to use his own
t with which to CREATE new things
which wiil be BENEFICIAL to the
coordinate system, HUMAN RACE).
his own "viewpoint" This of course imPlies PEACE,
and yet find the and better still
* P. of the "Prologue and Bpilogue."
9 r37
ry6
 fe) FRIENDSHIP between K and l?!
if\-/í gumilitv-remembering that
o
o he will ÑnVnn know THE "truth"
(see Ch. V, PP. r73-ry5) etc', etc
(g) Ànd all this of course
a requires a great deal of a
) a HARD WORK.
(r) Differences which will
NOT PREVENT both K and I(
from studvins the universe
wIiÈ nþÜru RIGHT and EQUAL
l,*,,? SUCCESS-
which is certainlY
the clearest concePt of
\ what DEMOCRACY is:
(a ) Difierent coordinate sYstems (ch. Iv)
(b ) Difierences in color of skin!
(c ) Difierent languages-or
other means of communication'

Änd please do not consider this program

as an^unattainable "(JtoPia,"
for it really WORKS in
Science and Mathematics,
as we have seen,
and can also work in
other domains,
if we would onlY
put our BEST Éff'ORfS into iÇ
instead of
fighting WARS-
(HOT or COLD)
òt euett PREPARING for wars-
?t-ur HATING other PeoPle,
rlr:a'A,4, ".¿. "t-Jo , etc., etc.

Ifyou reallY consider the matter

CAREF'ULLY,
138 r39
 VII. IMPORTANT NOTES
{r'
t
r t
,¡;.
+.
Note r
{i
?
EINSTEIN'S TELEGRAM TO THE PEOPLE: u'
l-
Our world faces crisis
as yet UNPERCEIVED bY those
ooisessing Dower to make
great dedsions for good or evil.
Unleashed power of atom
hASCHANGED EVERYTHING
BXCEPT our modes of THINKING
AND WE THUS DRIFT TOWARD rj
UNPARALLELED CATASTROPHE.
We scientists who released this immense Po\ryer
have overwhelming responsibility
in this world-wide life-and-death struggle
to harness atom
for BENEFIT of MANKIND
and NOT for humanity's destruction.
Bethe, Condon, Szilard, UreY and
Federation of American Scientists
join me in this appeal
and bee vou to suPport
our efto"rti to bring iêalization to America
that mankind's destiny is being decided
TODAY
NOW
THIS MOMENTI

And this is truer than ever NOW, in 196r.

At ¿^--fl*".fr;-
r42 r43
 Note z
MET^AMATHEMATICS]

[æt me refer you to

"Elementary Topics in Mathematical LogiC'
by Professor Alonzo Church of
Princeton University,
in which,
in developing SET THEORY,
he explicitly states that
he will introduce
T\MO KINDS of postulates:
(r)those WITHIN the system
' ' which are entirely exþressible
in the notation of set theory,
and

(z) those which are

NOT IN
but ABOUT
set theory,
which "require for their expression
the use of English o words
in addition to
. the notation of set theory."

This second kind of postulates

serves the following functions:

they EITHER

la)' sive permission to ASSERT

' ärry Jentence of a certain kind or form,
in which case they are called
SCHEMATA, OT

t Or, of cours€, any other native language.

r44 r45
(b) give permission to INFER Note 3
a sentence of a certain form THE LORENTZ TRÂNSFORMATION:
from one or more
sentences (premises) of x'- -p(x vt)
specified forms, Yt:Y *
in which case they are called z':z
RULES Of INFERENCE. t'- p(t - vx/c2)
See Th¿ ETnstein Theory of Relativity
He then proceeds to by Lillian R. Lieber
number the first kind, (r), with drawings by
with ARABIC numerals, Hugh Gray Lieber,
and those of the second kind, (z),- published by
that is, those belonging to the Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
METAMATHEMATICS_ An invariant here is
with ROMAN numerals.
lP +TTv+7
He then further proceeds to number âs was stated on p. rog of Ch. IV.
the THEOREMS of the TWO KINDS
in the same way, *'Where P - c/l7=p
so that one is aware
all the way through
of the distinction between
the MATHEMATICS and
the METAMATHEMATICS,
and one realizes that
YOU CANNOT HAVE THE FORMER
WITHOUT THE LATTER.
This explicit statement and treatment
is most interesting and instructive
and I am sure it will
open up a whole new world
to many readers.

r47
q6
 N

n:'¿ '-¿4-"*.t ^hnnt.,.

r49