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The Symbolic Universe: Geometry and Physics 1890-1930

26 September 1999

edited by Jeremy J Gray, Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 850088 2.

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At the Second International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Paris in 1900, David Hilbert presented a list of 23 outstanding problems in mathematics that, in his opinion, needed to be addressed. The sixth congress prophetically called for a greater interplay between geometry and physics.

The bridge from 19th to 20th-century physics has characterized new physics insights. Relativity, with its multidimensional spaces, ushered in new developments. Some of the greatest minds in physics and mathematics focused on these new goals. This is a fascinating collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference at the UK Open University.

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