El reto de Hilbert

by Jeremy J. Gray

Jeremy J.Gray, reputado historiador de la matemática, nos explica el desafio de Hilbert, que propuso 23 problemas a los reputados matemáticos de la época y aún hoy algunos no se han podido resolver.

Genres: Mathematics, Science, Nonfiction

322 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2000

Reviews

[Arthur Ryman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very authoritative account of the 23 problems Hilbert challenged the mathematics world to solve at the beginning of the 20th century, an impressive number of which have been solved over the last 120 years. The author provides a lot of detail about the problems and relates them to the the interplay between pure and applied mathematicals, mathematics and the real world, and the philosophical foundations of mathematics. Well worth the read by anyone with more than a casual interest in mathematics.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about the history of the 23 problems which Hilbert listed in his talk at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1900 as important questions for the mathematicians of the twentieth century. The perspective is wider than if it were about just one problem, but more focused than a comprehensive history of twentieth-century mathematics would be. What I liked best was that even though it mentions mathematicians' personalities, friendships, and rivalries, it only does so it can explain how they affected the development of mathematics, and not the other way round as books on the history of science almost always do. Almost all of the problems are solved now, though some of them aren't simple yes-or-no questions and the Riemann Hypothesis has outlasted the century.

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, detailing the 23 problems that Hilbert believed would occupy mathmatician's minds for the XX century. Some of these are already solved, and this book tells their history. Excellent for people who do not have a very extensive background in math but are interested.