Certainly mathematical logicians with a historical bent will eat [Hilbert's Programs and Beyond] all up like candy. But others will, too. It is, or at least should be, the case that all of us have some awareness of the controversies of the early 20th century and the role they played in bringing about the shape of contemporary mathematics. ... To revisit these themes and explore certain of their facets in great detail is a beneficial and pleasant experience.
Wilfried Sieg is the Patrick Suppes Professor of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1977. From 1977 to 1985, he was Assistant and Associate Professor at Columbia University. In 1985, he joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty as a founding member of the University's Philosophy Department and served as its Head from 1994 to 2005. He is internationally known for mathematical work in proof theory,
historical work on modern logic and mathematics, and philosophical essays on the nature of mathematics. Sieg is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.