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Piergiorgio Odifreddi - Mathematician, science communicator, essayist. Abstract The surname Gödel, composed of the name of God in English (God) and the Hebrew (El), prefigured his double destiny: on the one hand, to become a God of logic, and, on the other, to hear his name taken in vain too often. Comparing him to some greats of the past, JF Carl Gauss comes to mind. Both published sparingly, keeping results in the drawer that would have made anyone proud. The most obvious comparison is with Aristotle, the most appropriate one with Archimedes: they changed their discipline with their results, reaching apparently unfathomable depths.