David Hilbert, ForMemRS ( ; January 23, 1862 – February 14, 1943) was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of geometry. He also formulated the theory of Hilbert spaces, one of the foundations of functional analysis.
Hilbert adopted and warmly defended Georg Cantor's set theory and transfinite numbers. A famous example of his leadership in mathematics is his 1900 presentation of a collection of problems that set the course for much of the mathematical research of the 20th century.
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, as well as for being among the first to distinguish between mathematics and metamathematics.
Read more about David Hilbert: Life, Hilbert Solves Gordan's Problem, Axiomatization of Geometry, The 23 Problems, Formalism, Functional Analysis, Physics, Number Theory, Miscellaneous Talks, Essays, and Contributions, Quotes
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“In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)