J. Edward Nelson
| Edward Nelson | |
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Edward Nelson
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| Born | 4th May 1932 Decatur, Georgia |
| Died | 10th September 2014 Princeton, New Jersey |
| Residence | United States |
| Citizenship | American |
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| Children | 2 |
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| Thesis | On the Operator Theory of Markoff Processes |
| Doctoral advisor | Irving Segal |
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Edward Nelson (May 4, 1932 – September 10, 2014) was a professor in the Mathematics Department at Princeton University. He was known for his work on mathematical physics and mathematical logic. In mathematical logic, he was noted especially for his internal set theory, and views on ultrafinitism and the consistency of arithmetic. In philosophy of mathematics he advocated the view of formalism rather than platonism or intuitionism. He also wrote on the relationship between religion and mathematics.
Born in Decatur, Georgia, in 1932, Nelson lived in Italy as a child under the dictatorship of Mussolini. Nelson moved with his mother to New York City before World War II while his father, who spoke fluent Russian, stayed in St. Petersburg in connection with issues related to prisoners of war. After the war he returned to Italy for high school.
He received his Ph.D. in 1955 from the University of Chicago, where he worked with Irving Segal. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study from 1956 to 1959. He held a position at Princeton University starting in 1959, attaining the rank of professor there in 1964 and retiring in 2013.
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