aper, "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem," published in 1936. The Decision Problem, articulated by Gottingen's David Hilbert, concerned the abstract mathematical question of whether there could ever be any systematic mechanical procedure to determine, in a finite number of

rry. We just jumped forward to quite a complex concept. Let’s take it more slowly. One way to get a better grip on infinity is through the stories of David Hilbert and the Infinity Hotel. Infinity for Dummies Hilbert’s Hotel is a mythical building with an infinite number of rooms. Other than this strange featu

rand Russell was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, working on a broad range of mathematical problems. Meanwhile, in Germany, his contem- porary David Hilbert, also a polymath, held the chair of mathematics at Gottingen University. Both men shared a common objective: to tidy up the loose ends in mathematics

. After working for seven years at Erlangen as an instructor without pay, she was invited in 1915 to return to Gottingen by the famed mathematician David Hilbert. Historians and philosophers among the faculty, however, blocked her appointment. As one member protested, "What will our soldiers think when they