Gödel: A life of logic, the mind, and mathematics by John Casti and
Werner Depauli, Perseus, £18.50, ISBN 0738202746
A MAN is walking by the banks of the Nile with his child. A crocodile jumps
out of the river, seizes the child, then says, “I will return the child if you
guess correctly whether or not I will return the child.” The father replies:
“You will not return the child.” No one recorded the crocodile’s reply.
No wonder. I suspect that what distinguishes us from other animals—even
all other hominids—is our ability to grasp these puzzles and understand…
