An Unsolvable Problem of Elementary Number Theory

Alonzo Church1936paper

Selected reading: Full paper; methods and limitations.

Open the source ↗

How to study this source

  • What can a machine compute?

    coreFull paper; methods and limitations

    Compare this account’s mechanism with the preceding reading; note where their predictions differ.

Ideas and questions

Read background definitions when a term blocks the argument. Then return to the source and reconstruct its claim in your own words.

Read alongside, read against

  • Computational Complexity

    Christos Papadimitriou. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

  • Introduction to the Theory of Computation

    Michael Sipser. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

  • A New Kind of Science

    Stephen Wolfram. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

  • An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity

    Li · Vitányi. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

  • The Annotated Turing

    Charles Petzold. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.