Gottlob Frege made seminal contributions to the philosophy of language and of mathematics, yet his major intellectual project ran aground as it was in the last stages of being launched. He worked in a fairly narrow area of mathematics throughout his career, although his contributions to philosophy were uncommonly acute for a mathematician. Frege's understanding of language continues to be the focus for philosophical discussion and his project in mathematical logic, though unsuccessful, provided the foundation for much further work in the subject.

Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege was born on November 8, 1848, in Wismar, Mecklenburg-Scherin (present-day Germany). His father, Alexander, was principal of a girls' high school. In 1869 Frege enrolled at the University of Jena, where he stayed for two years at Jena before transferring to the University of Göttingen. There, his studies were not limited to mathematics, but included physics, chemistry, and philosophy. In 1873 Frege earned...