Hilbert (Paperback)

by Constance Reid (Author) "The fortuitous combination of genes that produces an unusually gifted individual was effected by Otto Hilbert and his wife Maria sometime in the spring of..." (more)
Key Phrases: algebraic number fields, mathematical existence, algebraic invariants, Dirichlet Principle, David Hilbert, Emmy Noether (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"[Hilbert] is woven out of three distinct themes. It presents a sensitive portrait of a great human being. It describes accurately and intelligibly on a nontechnical level the world of mathematical ideas in which Hilbert created his masterpieces. And it illuminates the background of German social history against which the drama of Hilbert's life played...Beyond this, it is a poem in praise of mathematics." -- Freeman Dyson, Science

From the reviews: THE BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICS BOOKS "Originally published to great acclaim, both books explore the dramatic scientific history expressed in the lives of these two great scientists and described in the lively, nontechnical writing style of Constance Reid."

Product Description
If the life of any 20th century mathematician can be said to be a history of mathematics in his time, it is that of David Hilbert. To the enchanted young mathematicians and physicists who flocked to study with him in Goettingen before and between the World Wars, he seemed mathematics personified, the very air around him"scientifically electric." His remarkably prescient proposal in 1900 of twenty-three problems for the coming century set the course of much subsequent mathematics and remains a feat that no scientist in any field has been able to duplicate. When he died, Nature remarked that there was scarcely a mathematician in the world whose work did not derive from that of Hilbert.

Constance Reid's classic biography is a moving, nontechnical account of the passionate scientific life of this man-from the early days in Koenigsberg, when his revolutionary work was dismissed as "theology," to the golden years in Goettingen before Hitler came to power and within a few months destroyed the entire Hilbert school.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Springer (October 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387946748
• ISBN-13: 978-0387946740
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #461,288 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Justly famous--a classic of mathematical biography, January 20, 2001

By	Mike Christie (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Hilbert" is justly famous as one of the best mathematical biographies around. Constance Reid, who also wrote a biography of Hilbert's student Courant, initially ran into some resistance from Hilbert's associates when she started work on this book. Max Born was not keen on the idea of a woman, who was neither German nor a mathematician, writing a study of Hilbert's life. Born was enthusiastic about the final product, however, and it has become a classic.

Hilbert took over from Poincare the title of the most famous mathematician in the world. His mathematical achievements are numerous and varied; Reid does a good job of providing an overview of the impact Hilbert had on many different fields, and of his style; his strengths and weaknesses. There is a good deal of coverage of the famous twenty-three Hilbert problems, presented to the Second International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900, including a large section of the talk Hilbert gave.

Reid paints a vivid picture of the mathematical circle at Gottingen, a luminous collection of talents. Minkowski and Hilbert were close friends; Klein was the director of the institute there; Emmy Noether was there; Hurwitz; Zermelo; Landau; the list is long and impressive. It's all the more sad to read about the way the Institute was destroyed by the Nazis in the name of racial purity. Almost without exception the leading mathematicians emigrated, one by one, to America. Hilbert, who had retired in 1930 (retirement at age 68 was mandatory) was forced to watch as the work of decades was dismantled. The last years, of age, fading memory and the privations of war, are mercifully given less than a dozen pages.

Hilbert's life leads from the great days of the mid-nineteenth century to the Nazis and the atomic bomb. Reid has done a wonderful job of capturing the feel of Germany over his long life, and the mathematic impact and importance of his work. A compulsory book for those interested in modern mathematical history.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilbert, his mathematics and Gottingen, May 29, 1998

By A Customer

"Hilbert" tells, in a direct and pleasant way, about both the history and mathematics of this great German mathematician. I recommend it to whoever is interested in learning about the social, scientific and political contexts of mathematics in Germany at the beginning of our century. It's an important source of information for those interested in history of mathematics. Important references are also made regarding the developments of physics in Germany prior to the 2nd World War. The book is a source of information on the roots of some developments of science which are, nowadays, fundamental to courses in areas of mathematics, physics and engineering (such as calculus of variations, integral equations, foundations of mathematics and mathematical physics). As informative and well written as "Courant", by the same author.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a great biography of great mathematian., June 15, 2000

By	Peter M. Goodrich (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Very well written. Gives a great feel for who Hilbert was as a person. It also does a good job of placing his achievments amoung the other mathematians of his time. I have attempted reading a few biography's of other mathematicians that focus on the math and not the person. They are almost unreadable. This book does not make this mistake. I have just bought "Foundations of Geometry" because of this book. I highly recommend it. PS - 4 stars is as high a rating as I give. I like having room to move for the truely fantastic.