Monday, February 14, 2005

Day of Memory

I just remembered that this is an important day.

On Feb 14, 1943 -- 62 years ago today -- one of the great figures in modern mathematics passed away. Though he made many interesting contributions to geometry and analysis, David Hilbert is probably best known now for the 23 (then unsolved) problems he presented at the Second International Congress of Mathematics in Paris. His biography can be found here.

Hilbert shares the peculiar honor of sharing his death day with a physician and early Catholic saint who was arrested, condemned to death for his faith, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded on Feb. 14, AD 270.