Robert M. Pirsig
American writer and philosopher (1928-2017)
David Hilbert
German mathematician (1862-1943)
David Hilbert was a renowned German mathematician and philosopher who made groundbreaking contributions to various fields, including invariant theory, the foundations of geometry, and the foundations of mathematics. He presented a collection of problems that set the course for mathematical research in the 20th century.
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About the David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time.
Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas including invariant theory, the calculus of variations, commutative algebra, algebraic number theory, the foundations of geometry, spectral theory of operators and its application to integral equations, mathematical physics, and the foundations of mathematics (particularly proof theory). He adopted and defended Georg Cantor’s set theory and transfinite numbers. In 1900, he presented a collection of problems that set a course for mathematical research of the 20th century.
Hilbert and his students contributed to establishing rigor and developed important tools used in modern mathematical physics. He was a cofounder of proof theory and mathematical logic.
Frequently Asked Questions
David Hilbert was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics who was one of the most influential mathematicians of his time.
Hilbert made significant contributions to a broad range of fundamental ideas, including invariant theory, the calculus of variations, commutative algebra, algebraic number theory, the foundations of geometry, and the foundations of mathematics (particularly proof theory).
In 1900, Hilbert presented a collection of problems that set a course for mathematical research throughout the 20th century.
Hilbert and his students contributed to establishing rigor and developed important tools used in modern mathematical physics.
Hilbert was a cofounder of proof theory and mathematical logic.
Hilbert adopted and defended Georg Cantor’s set theory and transfinite numbers, which had a significant influence on the field.
Hilbert made fundamental contributions to invariant theory, the calculus of variations, commutative algebra, algebraic number theory, the foundations of geometry, and the foundations of mathematics, among other areas.
16 Quotes by David Hilbert
- 1.
Mathematical science is in my opinion an indivisible whole, an organism whose vitality is conditioned upon the connection of its parts.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 2.
How thoroughly it is ingrained in mathematical science that every real advance goes hand in hand with the invention of sharper tools and simpler methods which, at the same time, assist in understanding earlier theories and in casting aside some more complicated developments.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 3.
Galileo was no idiot. Only an idiot could believe that science requires martyrdom – that may be necessary in religion, but in time a scientific result will establish itself.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 4.
One can measure the importance of a scientific work by the number of earlier publications rendered superfluous by it.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 5.
If I were to awaken after having slept for a thousand years, my first question would be: Has the Riemann hypothesis been proven?
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 6.
The infinite! No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 7.
If one were to bring ten of the wisest men in the world together and ask them what was the most stupid thing in existence, they would not be able to discover anything so stupid as astrology.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 8.
No one shall expel us from the paradise that Cantor has created for us.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 9.
Mathematics knows no races or geographic boundaries; for mathematics, the cultural world is one country.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 10.
Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 11.
A mathematical theory is not to be considered complete until you have made it so clear that you can explain it to the first man whom you meet on the street.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 12.
The art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 13.
No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man; no other idea has so fruitfully stimulated his intellect; yet no other concept stands in greater need of clarification than that of the infinite.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 14.
The further a mathematical theory is developed, the more harmoniously and uniformly does its construction proceed, and unsuspected relations are disclosed between hitherto separated branches of the science.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 15.
Physics is becoming too difficult for the physicists.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)
- 16.
He who seeks for methods without having a definite problem in mind seeks in the most part in vain.
David HilbertGerman mathematician (1862-1943)