Hilbert came from Königsberg, which is called the "land of dragons" in Germany.
At that time, both the Teutonic Knights and Prussia used it as their capital.
It's just that it can no longer be found on the map. After World War II, according to the "Potsdam Agreement", Königsberg became the land of the Soviet Union, and now it has become the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
These are all subsequent complicated political and military issues. In addition, after the war, Germany implemented "anti-revolutionary education" and deliberately diluted the concept of "Prussia". Many people have actually gradually forgotten Königsberg.
However, Königsberg's position in German history is still very prominent. Hilbert's fellow countrymen include the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant, Lavacher who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Goldbach who proposed the famous mathematical conjecture, and the author Minkowski, a famous mathematician and Einstein’s teacher.
There is also the famous "Seven Bridges of Königsberg Problem" here, which was solved by Euler, the god of mathematics, thus pioneering the study of topology.
Now Hilbert has become famous. In 1900, not only Lord Kelvin proposed the "two dark clouds" of physics, which directly led to the two great weapons of physics, quantum mechanics and relativity.
Hilbert also delivered a famous lecture entitled "Mathematical Problems" at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900. Based on the results and development trends of mathematical research in the past, especially in the nineteenth century, Hilbert proposed a very famous 23 most important math problems.
Later generations collectively referred to it as the "Hilbert problem".
These 23 Hilbert problems were praised by Minkowski: "He provided a navigation map for the development of mathematics in the new century."
Fifty years later, the famous mathematician Herman Weyl of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA, summed up the development history of mathematics in the first half of the 20th century at a meeting of the American Mathematical Society: "In the past 50 years, we have It is against this navigation map that mathematicians measure our progress."
In short, Lord Kelvin and Hilbert almost pointed out the development direction for the physics department and mathematics respectively in 1900, and their contributions can be said to be very great.
As a mathematical guide, Hilbert's vision was naturally extremely accurate.
So when he saw Li Yu's paper, he immediately began to read it carefully.
But Hilbert read very slowly. He was different from most mathematicians.
Logically speaking, mathematics is one of the most difficult majors to study in college.
Many people who provide professional tutoring for college entrance examinations or postgraduate entrance examinations must have said: Mathematics majors are the most brain-consuming.
It's really like "eating brains". If you want to learn mathematics, it really depends on your IQ.
Generally speaking, people who engage in mathematics have super-fast brains, and ordinary people cannot catch up with their thinking. But Hilbert is just the opposite. His brain is quite slow...
I even dare to say that if Gauss could solve the same problem in one day, Hilbert would need at least ten days.
But Hilbert’s advantage does not lie in this. Although Hilbert has a slow brain and is slow to understand things, once he understands a new mathematical idea, he can study it very deeply and expand very widely. .
This is his unique ability. If he could become one of the greatest mathematicians of the early 20th century, his reputation would be well deserved.
To make an inappropriate metaphor, he is a bit like Zeng Guofan. He is the kind of person who is not very quick in thinking, but becomes very powerful once he masters it.
It's not that Zeng Guofan once memorized "The Story of Yueyang Tower" and even the thief on the beam memorized it. Before he could memorize it, he was so angry that the thief jumped down from the beam and recited it to him. "In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was relegated to Baling County. ...", recited it from beginning to end, then opened the door and walked away, not forgetting to taunt: "Idiot! Bah! Are you still studying? Just go home and herd the cows!"
The two situations are indeed somewhat similar...
Koch of Sweden and Pierno of Italy wrote their review comments early after reading the paper and sent it to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Professor Hilbert had just finished reading the fractal part. He was struggling to study the "carp effect" in chaos theory. "where! (Li Yushang still used the "ant nest effect" in the paper.)
Until he had to go to class a few days later, he still hadn't fully understood it, so he had to study the problem in class with his students in the mathematics department.
At the end of the day, the students all understood it, but Hilbert still didn't fully understand it. Several anxious students began to go up and tell Hilbert.
——Students are used to it anyway. Western universities in this era emphasize free discussion, and Hilbert has no airs. He must understand any problems.
His students often had to explain to him when they had new ideas. When Hilbert sat in the audience with other students and listened to the class together, the other students understood it, but he often still couldn't understand it.
Then the student would sweat profusely and continue talking to him until he understood.
It's quite interesting.
After several classmates went through the explanation, Hilbert finally slapped his thigh: "I understand!"
OK! This is just great! As long as our Professor Hilbert's brain passes this level, it really means there is no problem.
After Hilbert thoroughly understood this fractal and chaos theory, he began to exclaim that it was wonderful.
He is not a conservative person. This theory that combines micro and macro, mathematics and reality makes him feel the beauty of mathematics the most.
When he looked back at the author of the paper, Li Yu's name really surprised him. He had also heard of Li Yu's deeds before.
Hilbert was surprised: "No wonder, the author turned out to be Li Yu who discovered Pluto."
The students below had just been immersed in the wonderful mathematical theories, and now they were also surprised to hear Li Yu's name:
"Let me just say, this paper involves so many calculations, it would make sense if it was Li Yu."
"I feel like I have a headache just thinking about the complicated calculations in astronomy. It must be possible for people with good mathematical abilities to do it."
They didn't know that Li Yu not only had a brain, but also a calculator in his hand that could be called a small computer.
It had been a long time since Hilbert had seen such an outstanding paper that could explain the nature of nature.
When mathematics developed to his time, it had begun to enter the realm of pure mathematics. It did not care too much about reality, but was at a very high and very far position away from other disciplines.
Today, it is not easy to find a paper that has profound mathematical theory and at the same time reveals extremely essential phenomena.
It took Hilbert a long time to stabilize his thoughts, and then he wrote a letter to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. One paragraph of it reads:
"Among us mathematics researchers, we often hear the cry: Here is a mathematical problem, find its answer! I am very impressed that the author Li Yu can find the principles hidden in natural philosophy through such ingenious thinking. This is the charm of mathematics, because there is nothing unknowable in mathematics!
"Of course, it is extremely difficult to know the truth of the world, but I have always had this view: We must know, and we will know!"
This is Hilbert's famous saying that will be engraved on his epitaph many years later.
