Foundations of Mathematics

This article discusses what can be proved about the foundations of mathematics using the notions of algorithm and information. The first part is retrospective, and presents a beautiful antique, Godel’s proof, the first modern incompleteness theorem, Turing’s halting problem, and a piece of postmodern metamathematics, the halting probability Omega. The second part looks forward to the new century and discusses the convergence of theoretical physics and theoretical computer science and hopes for a theoretical biology, in which the notions of algorithm and information are again crucial.