Imre Lakatos Biography
(Philosopher of Mathematics and Science Who Introduced the Concept of 'Research Program')
Birthday: November 9, 1922 (Scorpio)
Born In: Debrecen, Hungary
Imre Lakatos was a Jewish-Hungarian philosopher who grew popular for his contributions to the philosophy of science and philosophy of mathematics. He changed his name and took upon the surname ‘Lakatos’ after fearing the German Nazi invasion of Hungary, which claimed the lives of millions, including his mother and grandmother. Through his newly adopted name, he completed his education and secured doctorate from Hungary and England. As an active communist in the World War II, he was imprisoned on charges of revisionism for three years, after which he started his research on mathematics, thereby becoming a philosopher eventually. Among his numerous works in science and mathematics, the most notable are his introduction of a scientific ‘research programme’ and his thesis on the fallibility of mathematics, emphasizing on its proofs and refutations, while working at the prestigious London School of Economics. He translated a number of mathematics books into Hungarian and wrote several books on the philosophy of science and mathematics during his entire life. Some of his best-known works include ‘Proofs and Refutations’, ‘Cauchy and the Continuum: The Significance of Non-Standard Analysis’, and ‘Criticism and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes’