Talk:David Hilbert

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ARCHIVED: May 7, 2009 Editing session Hilbert/Physics/Relativity with Jwy, Salix, Wvbailey, Pie are round, concluded with the revision of a paragraph under category "Physics" concerning Einstein, Hilbert, and the 1915 development of the field equations of General Relativity. --Pie are round (talk) 18:51, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

Hilbert in the 1930's

Hilbert is said to have made a pro-Nazi remark in the 1930's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.139.179.195 (talk) 17:04, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

That has been suggested before, but I've never seen any sources of it. Do you have a good source? (John User:Jwy talk) 17:14, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

See Constance Reid's biography, mentioned in the "Secondary Literature". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.158.232.88 (talk) 10:14, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

There was a plebiscite in Germany on the 19/8/1934. A pro-Hitler declaration appeared in a German paper,

made by German scientists, on the previous day. Unfortunately, I have no access to copies of German newspapers, going back to

18/8/1934.See http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0505235 Hilbert is not mentioned as being one of those refusing to make a

pro-Hitler declaration.

The link didn't work for me -- the paper doesn't exist? Bill Wvbailey (talk) 14:06, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree, that the link does not work directly. Search arxiv.org for "Ivan Todorov" and you might find his paper on Heisenberg. A PDF is involved, which might account for the difficulty. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.82.116.138 (talk) 13:59, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but WERNER HEISENBERG mentions Hilbert directly only as Courant's colleague. I couldn't see any indirect mention, although I may not have read closely enough. Since it appears to be a notable exception when a professor avoided the Hitler salute, I suspect Hilbert participated in that - but that is as notable as saying he kept his job. But thanks for pointing to that site. A lot of good information there. (John User:Jwy talk) 18:06, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

See "Hilbert" by Constance Reid, published by Springer-Verlag, in 1996. On page 207 it says, "An election was scheduled for August with the alternatives, yes or no. The day before the election, the newspapers carried a proclamation announcing that Hitler had the support of German science. The list of signatures included the name of Hilbert. Whether Hilbert actually signed the proclamation is not known." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.148.69.11 (talk) 12:13, 13 July 2009 (UTC) I think the same passage appeared in the 1970 edition of the biography of Hilbert. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.148.69.11 (talk) 12:18, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

An uncertain signature among a long list that did not reflect (as it indicates later in the paragraph) his apparent core beliefs does not, in my opinion, warrant mention here unless the context is made very clear - which would take some careful research and writing. There is no sign that he was an active supporter of the Nazis. That someone in Germany didn't resist openly is not really notable. Resistance seems to have been rather limiting in many ways - and he did complain about the loss of his Jewish colleagues. (John User:Jwy talk) 19:06, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Often accused

Hilbert was often accused of being a *** by the Nazis, because of his name "David". He seems to acquired the name from Lutheran ancestors, who often used Hebrew names. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.169.200.201 (talk) 08:18, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Hilbert's alleged anger

Numerous wiki pages are assorted with an allegation that Hilbert got angry when he heard of Goedel's work. The main source for this seems to be the somewhat sensationalistic biography by Reed. Such an allegation is not very informative, and I suggest we delete it thoughout. It is particularly irrelevant in the context of the debate against Brouwer, and gives the impression of a gleeful editor siding with Brouwer propagating this information throughout Hilbert-related pages. Tkuvho (talk) 12:33, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

There is a little bit of research on Hilbert's reactions here. 69.111.194.167 (talk) 03:57, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Indeed, the discussion there reveals that the only source for the alleged anger is Reed's personal recollection of a conversionation with... Bernays. Reed's sensationalistic dramatisations have no respectable source and should be deleted. Please log in and you agree we can delete this unreliable material. Tkuvho (talk) 04:05, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

finiteness theorem

http://people.math.jussieu.fr/~harris/theology.pdf tell a somewhat different version of the "theology" story. Parking it here for now. I'll add something about it to the article unless someone gets to it before I do (please feel free). 69.111.194.167 (talk) 08:07, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

Is COLIN MCLARTY's piece published? Why does it appear in pdf form at Harris's page? What's the relation between Harris and McLarty? If this has been published, it is yet another "dramatic" distortion of history perpetrated by Reed and Eric Temple Bell. This should certainly be clarified. Tkuvho (talk) 04:17, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

The article will appear in the book "Circles disturbed: the interplay of Mathematics and Narrative", edited by Apostolos Doxiadis and Barry Mazur, Princeton University Press, 2011. Harris was at the meeting where I presented the paper, and he put up the pdf because the book is not out yet. It is based on comments by Hilbert, and Felix Klein and others close to the event. You could especially look at Gerhard Frei editor, "Der Briefwechsel David Hilbert Felix Klein (1886--1918)", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Goettingen, 1985.

Also, I am unsure who this Reed is. Should it be (Constance) Reid?Colin McLarty (talk) 14:59, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Strange gender issue in the introduction??

  the first of two children and only son of Otto and Maria Therese (Erdtmann) Hilbert

OK what is that supposed to be? Why is it significant that the second child was a female, is it that the Hilberts only had one 'good one'? Ridiculous sentence. 89.241.33.79 (talk) 21:27, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Dunno, making the change. A13ean (talk) 21:37, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

It's a very common form in encyclopedic entries :P Jorgen W (talk) 00:43, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

It is really somehow derogatory to know that his sibling was a sister? Colin McLarty (talk) 20:59, 26 January 2012 (UTC)