Hilbert, Göttingen and the Development of Modern Mathematics

Product Description

David Hilbert is one of the outstanding mathematicians of the twentieth century and probably the most influential. This book highlights Hilberts contributions to mathematics, putting them in their historical, social and cultural context. With this aim, particular attention is paid to Hilberts axiomatic method and his proposal for the foundations of mathematics, the so-called Hilberts program; the development of algebraic number theory, the theory of integral equations, modern algebra and the structural image of mathematics; the axiomatization of Euclidean Geometry in his magnum opus Grundlagen der Geometrie; the famous list of Mathematical Problems presented in Paris in 1900; the mathematical tradition of the University of Göttingen, which became the worlds mathematical centre under the leadership of Felix Klein and Hilbert; the great debate on the foundations of mathematics in the twenties between formalists and intuitionists; and finally, Hilberts work on the theory of relativity and the foundations of quantum mechanics. The target audience of this book is mainly academic, although the use of complex mathematical formulas and abstract mathematical concepts have been avoided as far as possible so that it is understandable to general-interest science readers.

About the Author

Joan Roselló received his PhD from the University of Barcelona, Spain. He has written articles and reviews, mainly on the history of logic and philosophy of mathematics, in journals such as Theoria or Tribuna Plural, and presented at congresses including the Congress of the Society of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science in Spain or the Catalan Congress of Philosophy. In 2010, his essay Els teoremes de Gödel i la incompletabilitat de les matemàtiques [Gödels Theorems and the Incompletability of Mathematics] was awarded the Joaquim Carreras i Artau prize of the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 2012, he published From Foundations to Philosophy of Mathematics. He is currently Associate Professor of Logic at the University of Barcelona, Director of the Section of Logic and Philosophy of Science of the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities and member of the Social Council of the University of the Balearic Islands.