David Hilbert 1862-1943

1862. Born in Königsberg, Germany on January 21st, the son of a judge.

1870. Studied at Friedrichskolleg in Königsberg.

1879. Studied at Wilhelms - Gymnasium.

1880. Entered the University of Königsberg, spending the second term at Heidelberg.

1885. Awarded his doctorate. Visited Leipzig and Paris.

1892. Appointed as extraordinary professor at Königsberg. Married Kythe Jersosch.

1893. Promoted to ordinary professor.

1895. Became Professor of Mathematics at Göttingen.

1900. Listed 23 outstanding and important unsolved problems at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

1925. Contracted pernicious anaemia.

1930. Retired from academia.

1943. Died at Göttingen on February 14th.

Mathematics

• Did definitive work on invariant theory, solving all the central problems.
• Algebraic number theory.
• Discovered many new and fundamental theorems in algebra, especially the theory of polynomial rings.
• Important work in the axiomatic foundations of geometry establishing a new depth in obtaining consistent proofs.
• Work on operators and 'Hilbert Space' was of prime importance to the development of quantum mechanics. These ideas were strongly influenced by the star physicists at Göttingen - Weyl, Schrödinger and Heisenberg.
• Attempted to formalise the entirity of Mathematics (Hilbert's Programme), an ambition later undermined by Kurt Gödels discoveries.
• Important work also in integral calculus and calculus of variations.

Mathwise
Mathematical Biographies
Jeremy Dittmer
© 1995 U.K. Mathematics Courseware consortium