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This book provides detailed transcriptions of two notebooks written by Kurt Gödel in Vienna in 1937/38 in the nearly forgotten Gabelsberger shorthand system. The first of these notebooks, simply entitled as the Protokoll-book, contains notes on conversations Gödel had with people like Rudolf Carnap, Rose Rand, Friedrich Waismann, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, and many others who were—at least to some degree—connected to the Vienna Circle. It also covers detailed descriptions of the regular meetings organized by Edgar Zilsel. The second notebook includes notes on a series of lectures given at the Vienna Psychological Institute, which was led by Karl Bühler at the time. Both notebooks are part of Gödel's huge Nachlass kept at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which consists of literally thousands of stenographic pages covering logic and the foundations of mathematics, philosophy, physics, and theology. The now transcribed and commented notes reveal a very personal side of Gödel which has—to a large extent—been unknown to a mainly scientific-oriented audience. The book is of interest to people wanting to learn about Gödel's personal background in Vienna in the late 1930s as well as his keen interest in philosophy, psychology, and parapsychology.

Mit dem vorliegenden Band legt der Autor eine Auswahl seiner Aufsätze der letzten drei Jahrzehnte zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften in Österreich von 1850 bis 1950 vor. Hervorzuheben ist die Zeiten und Fächer übergreifende Perspektive, die es dem Autor erlaubt, die Wissenschaftsentwicklung aus dem Blickwinkel von Aufbruch und Zerstörung zu rekonstruieren. Die Zerstörung der Wissenschaftskultur durch die Machtübernahme der Nationalsozialisten 1938 und die Restrukturierung des wissenschaftlichen Lebens in Österreich nach 1945 stehen im Fokus einer detailreichen Darstellung der Wissenschaften unter wechselnd politischen Bedingungen.

This abridged and revised edition of the original book (Springer-Wien-New York: 2001) offers the only comprehensive history and documentation of the Vienna Circle based on new sources with an innovative historiographical approach to the study of science. With reference to previously unpublished archival material and more recent literature, it refutes a number of widespread clichés about'neo-positivism'or'logical positivism'. Following some insights on the relation between the history of science and the philosophy of science, the book offers an accessible introduction to the complex subject of'the rise of scientific philosophy” in its socio-cultural background and European philosophical networks till the forced migration in the Anglo-Saxon world.The first part of the book focuses on the origins of Logical Empiricism before World War I and the development of the Vienna Circle in'Red Vienna'(with the'Verein Ernst Mach'), its fate during Austro-Fascism (Schlick's murder 1936) and its final expulsion by National-Socialism beginning with the'Anschluß'in 1938. It analyses the dynamics of the Schlick-Circle in the intellectual context of'late enlightenment'including the minutes of the meetings from 1930 on for the first time published and presents an extensive description of the meetings and international Unity of Science conferences between 1929 and 1941.The chapters introduce the leading philosophers of the Schlick Circle (e.g., Hans Hahn, Otto Neurath, Rudolf Carnap, Philipp Frank, Felix Kaufmann, Edgar Zilsel) and describe the conflicting interaction between Moritz Schlick and Otto Neurath, the long term communication between Moritz Schlick, Friedrich Waismann and Ludwig Wittgenstein, as well as between the Vienna Circle with Heinrich Gomperz and Karl Popper. In addition, Karl Menger's'Mathematical Colloquium'with Kurt Gödel is presented as a parallel movement. The final chapter of this section describes the demise of the Vienna Circle andthe forced exodus of scientists and intellectuals from Austria. The second part of the book includes a bio-bibliographical documentation of the Vienna Circle members and for the first time of the assassination of Moritz Schlick in 1936, followed by an appendix comprising an extensive list of sources and literature.