November 10, 2016 Thursday
Bedtime Story
David Hilbert is surrounded with Beautiful Minds at Göttingen
Hilbert spent 15 years at the University of Königsberg, first 6 years as a student until he got his PhD in 1885 and the remaining 9 years as Privatdozent.
David Hilbert is surrounded with Beautiful Minds at Göttingen
Hilbert spent 15 years at the University of Königsberg, first 6 years as a student until he got his PhD in 1885 and the remaining 9 years as Privatdozent.
As you can see, his determinative years were spent at the
University of Königsberg.
Then in 1895, thanks to recommendations made by Felix Klein,
University of Göttingen invited him to hold the Professor of Mathematics.
Hilbert gladly accepted it and since then remained in Göttingen.
Gottingen soon started drawing the best and the most brilliant minds
from all over Europe.
His students included geniuses like John von Neumann, Hermann
Weyl, Emanuel Lasker (mathematician and world chess champion), Emmy Noether
(made groundbreaking work in algebra), Alonzo Church (famous for lambda
calculus and Church-Turing thesis).
Hilbert attracted the geniuses around him the way a light bulb in
pure darkness gathers moths around itself.
Hilbert himself worked earlier on abstract algebra and number
theory.
Later he worked on integral equations giving them a whole new
approach.
Following this he wrote an algorithm for continuous fractals space
filling (completely) curves in multiple higher dimensions.
The algorithm was recursive such that it created a continuous
non-intersecting curve so that in a grid every pixel is traversed just once.
In case if you are wondering what is the use or what is the
purpose of it, then you don’t understand mathematicians.
Pure mathematicians are a strange breed of apes.
Let me correct myself; they are the strangest and rarest breed of
apes.
Apes who indulge in mathematics purely for the joy and pleasure
they derive out of it.
The fact that mathematics does end up proving useful in describing
nature and several physical processes is incidental and some feel that neither we
deserve it nor are worthy of it.
It is like a person who loves to life heavy weights yet who is
really not interested either in bulging muscles, competing in shows, living
long or displaying his “peacock tail” for sexual attraction.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.in/
Good night and my fellow cousin ape.
Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, may I
suggest this large collection of Kids Songs:
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