David Hilbert

David Hilbert (/ˈhɪlbərt/;[4] German: [ˈdaːvɪt ˈhɪlbɐt]; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory, the calculus of variations, commutative algebra, algebraic number theory, the foundations of geometry, spectral theory of operators and its application to integral equations, mathematical physics, and the foundations of mathematics (particularly proof theory).

David Hilbert
Hilbert in 1912
Born	(1862-01-23)23 January 1862 Königsberg or Wehlau, Prussia
Died	14 February 1943(1943-02-14) (aged 81) Göttingen, Germany
Nationality	German
Education	University of Königsberg (PhD)
Known for	Hilbert's basis theorem Hilbert's axioms Hilbert's problems Hilbert's program Einstein–Hilbert action Hilbert space Epsilon calculus
Spouse	Käthe Jerosch
Children	Franz (b. 1893)
Awards	Lobachevsky Prize (1903) Bolyai Prize (1910) ForMemRS[1]
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, Physics and Philosophy
Institutions	University of Königsberg Göttingen University
Thesis	On Invariant Properties of Special Binary Forms, Especially of Spherical Functions (1885)
Doctoral advisor	Ferdinand von Lindemann[2]
Doctoral students	Wilhelm Ackermann Heinrich Behmann Felix Bernstein Otto Blumenthal Anne Bosworth Werner Boy Ugo Broggi Richard Courant Haskell Curry Max Dehn Ludwig Föppl Rudolf Fueter Paul Funk Kurt Grelling Alfréd Haar Erich Hecke Earle Hedrick Ernst Hellinger Wallie Hurwitz Margarete Kahn Oliver Kellogg Hellmuth Kneser Robert König Emanuel Lasker Klara Löbenstein Charles Max Mason Alexander Myller Erhard Schmidt Kurt Schütte Andreas Speiser Hugo Steinhaus Gabriel Sudan Teiji Takagi Hermann Weyl Ernst Zermelo
Other notable students	Edward Kasner John von Neumann
Influences	Immanuel Kant[3]

Hilbert adopted and defended Georg Cantor's set theory and transfinite numbers. In 1900, he presented a collection of problems that set the course for much of the mathematical research of the 20th century.[5][6]

Hilbert and his students contributed significantly to establishing rigor and developed important tools used in modern mathematical physics. Hilbert is known as one of the founders of proof theory and mathematical logic.[7]