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Philosophia Mathematica Advance Access originally published online on January 25, 2008
Philosophia Mathematica 2008 16(1):113-129; doi:10.1093/philmat/nkm044
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Copyright © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press.

Book Review

LEO CORRY. David Hilbert and the Axiomatization of Physics (1898–1918)

Katherine Brading*

* Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, U.S.A.

Correspondence: kbrading@nd.edu

Leo Corry. David Hilbert and the Axiomatization of Physics (1898–1918). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-4020-2777-X (cloth), 1-4020-2778-8 (e-book). Pp. xvii + 513

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

This book is a wonderful resource for historians and philosophers of mathematics and physics alike, not just for Hilbert's own work in physics, but also because Corry sets Hilbert in context, bringing out the people with whom Hilbert had contact, describing their work and possible links with Hilbert's work, and describing the activities going on around Hilbert. The historical thesis of this book is that Hilbert worked on a wide range of issues in physics for a period lasting more than two decades, employing and developing his axiomatic approach throughout. One conclusion that follows from this is that Hilbert's 1915–1917 work relating to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was a natural continuation of Hilbert's pre-existing interests and activities, and not a one-off foray into foreign territory. 1

Of especial interest to philosophers of mathematics are two further theses. Corry stresses that for Hilbert geometry is an empirical science, and related to . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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