Einleitung in die Grössenlehre und erste Begriffe der allgemeinen Grössenlehre

Bernard Bolzano (1781–1848) is one of the major figures in the history of ideas. Due to his ›Wissenschaftslehre‹ (Theory of Science) and the new foundation for logic and epistemology it provided, he came the forefather of phenomenology and also the forerunner of scientific philosophy and pure research in the 20th century. He was far ahead of his time with his ideas on theology, the philosophy of religion, ethics and political philosophy, which are still of interest today. Through his publications, he also gained an excellent reputation as a mathematician during his lifetime.His comprehensive literary estate contains a broad description and a new foundation for mathematics. In addition to many innovative ideas, in it he developed some of the main concepts of the set theory, which was eventually developed at a later date, as he also did in his work ›Paradoxien des Unendlichen‹ (Paradoxes of the Infinite), which was published posthumously. The full extent of Bolzano’s significance for the history of ideas was not actually recognizable until publication of the Bernard Bolzano Gesamtausgabe (Collected Works) began. This edition includes not only text-critical new editions of all of his works but in addition many previously inaccessible sources (unpublished manuscripts, diary entries, correspondence etc) are being made available for research for the first time.