Hilbert

by Constance Reid

Overview

Now in new trade paper editions, these classic biographies of two of the greatest 20th Century mathematicians are being released under the Copernicus imprint. These noteworthy accounts of the lives of David Hilbert and Richard Courant are closely related: Courant's story is, in many ways, seen as the sequel to the story of Hilbert. 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 Contance Reid.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387946740
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	04/19/1996
Series:	Diseases
Edition description:	1st ed. 1970. 2nd printing 1996
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.24(d)

About the Author

Constance Reid has been called "the foremost mathematical biographer of our time." Her many books include From Zero to Infinity, A Long Way from Euclid, The Search for E.T. Bell, and Neyman, from Life.

Table of Contents

I Youth.- II Friends and Teachers.- III Doctor of Philosophy.- IV Paris.- V Gordan’s Problem.- VI Changes.- VII Only Number Fields.- VIII Tables, Chairs, and Beer Mugs.- IX Problems.- X The Future of Mathematics.- XI The New Century.- XII Second Youth.- XIII The Passionate Scientific Life.- XIV Space, Time and Number.- XV Friends and Students.- XVI Physics.- XVII War.- XVIII The Foundations of Mathematics.- XIX The New Order.- XX The Infinite!.- XXI Borrowed Time.- XXII Logic and the Understanding of Nature.- XXIII Exodus.- XXIV Age.- XXV The Last Word.

Editorial Reviews

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."

From the Publisher

...books of the excellence of Mrs. Reid's are few.
— The New Yorker)

Jeremy Bernestein

[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.
— Science

Freeman Dyson