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In I am a Strange Loop, Hofstadter describes the history of Gödel's incompleteness theorem, talking about how venerable Russel, after developing his supposedly all-encompassing and paradox-free Principia Mathematica, was thwarted by "a young Turk from Austria" who showed that PM may be consistent, but it's incomplete beyond repair. Hofstadter repeats calling Gödel a Turk a couple of times thoughout the book.

I can't find anything on Gödel being of Turkish descent. In fact, his father was Catholic and his mother Protestant, not impossible for Turks in his time, but very rare.

Is Hofstadter just wrong?

Johannes Bauer
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    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/young%20Turk – user4894 Jul 27 '22 at 16:28
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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turks "Young Turks were a heterodox group of secular liberal intellectuals and revolutionaries, united by their opposition to the absolutist" – CriglCragl Jul 27 '22 at 18:08

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"Young Turk" is a figure of speech which has nothing to do with being from Turkey. In current usage it means someone who challenges accepted norms or given knowledge, especially if those were promulgated by the members of an older generation.

niels nielsen
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  • Ah! That clears it up! Hard to parse for a non-native speaker. Hofstadter goes pretty far with this, calling an alter-ego of Gödel's "Turkish-Viennese". – Johannes Bauer Jul 28 '22 at 07:35
  • @JohannesBauer: The Ottoman Empire centred in Turkey only ceased in 1922, & conducted a major siege of Vienna in 1529. I wouldn't put it past Hofstadter to be making an allusion to the siege. – CriglCragl Jul 29 '22 at 23:27