Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] In Math, Computers Don't Lie. Or Do They?

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Thu, 8 Apr 2004, Jonathan King wrote:

> it looks to me like this is in fact a problem that Hilbert did have to
> go back and solve.  I think it is equivalent to Hilbert's Fourth Axiom
> of Order.  According to:
>
> http://www.friesian.com/space.htm
>
> Hilbert needed to state the following fairly toolish postulate:
>
>     Let A, B, C be three points that do not lie on a line and let a
>     be a line in the plane ABC which does not meet any of the points
>     A, B, C. If the line a passes through a point of the segment AB,
>     it also passes through a point of the segment AC, or through a
>     point of the segment BC.


I have to say that it is amazing that you could find that.

If the line passes through the point C, does it pass through both segments
AC and BC?  If not, I think Hilbert erred by just one point.  ;-)

Hilbert was great.  Do you think Einstein really plagiarized him?

http://home.comcast.net/~xtxinc/AEGRBook.htm
http://christianparty.net/einsteinplagiarist.htm

This anti-Einstein stuff, though highly questionable, contains some
kernels of truth (e.g., regarding Lorentz).

Here's a story:  When I started my undergrad education at WPI in 1976, we
had an elderly physics professor who used to like to tell us about his
experiences with Einstein at Princeton back in the '40s.  He said that he
would often see Einstein working on basic calculus problems at the
chalkboard.  When asked why he was doing this, Einstein would reply that
it was wise to practice the basics in order to maintain good mathematical
conditioning.  Of course, the story also implies that Einstein wasn't all
that great at math.  Famously, Einstein once said, "Do not worry about
your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Maybe he did swipe a few ideas!

Mike
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