Karl Popper

"Karl Popper, an eminent philosopher and social theorist, was born in Vienna, but subsequently became a British subject. When young, Popper was intellectually precocious and had a keen interest in science, psychology, and, subsequently, philosophy. ... Popper also is well known for his writings on social philosophy. His books Open Society and Its Enemies and The Poverty of Historicism, both written during the Second World War, were powerful attacks on Plato, Marx, and their arguments in favor of historical inevitability as enemies of an open society."

"Popper is famous for saying that induction can't be justified, that the only inferences that data support are to deductive consequences of the data .... Popper’s anti-inductive conclusions were always held to be counterintuitive, even ridiculous, but he swallowed them, and so did his followers. Now I'm saying something stronger than has been said thus far, namely, that their view is incoherent."

"Hayek had Austrian-born philosopher Karl R. Popper speak at a seminar, and Popper expanded it into his most controversial book, The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945), a passionate attack on Plato and Karl Marx; Hayek helped find a publisher and persuaded colleagues at the London School of Economics to give Popper a teaching position -- rescuing him from a hostile academic environment in New Zealand. Through the ups and downs of Hayek's life, Popper remained his closest friend."