From Trotsky to Gödel: The Life of Jean van Heijenoort

by Anita Burdman Feferman

Overview

This story of a highly intelligent observer of the turbulent 20th century who was intimately involved as the secretary and bodyguard to Leon Trotsky is based on extensive interviews with the subject, Jean van Heijenoort, and his family, friends, and colleagues. The author has captured the personal drama and the professional life of her protagonist--ranging from the political passion of a young intellectual to the scientific and historic work in the most abstract and yet philosophically important area of logic--in a very readable narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000153880
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	01/28/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	426
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Anita Burdman Feferman (Author)

Table of Contents

I Chapter 1 In My Beginning Is My End Creil: 1912.-1918 Chapter 2 "Those Schools" 1919-1929 Chapter 3 A Sharp Left 'fum, Paris: 1930-1932 II Chapter 4 The Old Man on the Island of Princes 1\.trkey: 1932.-1933 Chapter 5 On the Move France: 1933-1935 Chapter 6 Herring: Norwegian and Red France and Norway: 1935-1936 Chapter 7 A Blue House on a New Planet Mexico: 1937 Chapter 8 Arrivals and Departures Mexico: 1938 Chapter 9 Two Women Mexico: 1938-1939, III Chapter 10 Out of the Shadow? The United States: 1939-1945 Chapter 11 Another Life 1945-1950 Chapter 12 The House That Jean Built 1945-1956 Chapter 13 A Passion for Exactitude 1957-1977 Chapter 14 The Archivist in Spite of Himself 1940-1986 Chapter 15 The Door to Life Mexico: 1960-1980 Chapter 16 The End 1981-1986, Afterword, Appendix Jean van Heijenoort's Scholarly Work

Editorial Reviews

Published in 1993 in hardcover as . This paperbound edition makes the life of the former Trotskyite and American logician available to a wider audience. Feferman (no affiliation is given, she lives in California) has written a rather gossipy biography of the man that focuses on the personal events of his life, his interaction with famous people, and the women he loved. His intellectual pursuits are summarized in an appendix by Feferman's husband Solomon. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Draws heavily upon interviews with van Heijenoort himself ... enthusiastically recommended for anyone interested in following van Heijenoort's challenging life, and also for students of Trotsky seeking to round out their perspectives on the man and his writings." -The Midwest Book Review, September 2007

From the Publisher