Paper Belt on Fire

At a conference at the Sorbonne in August of 1900, the great mathematician David Hilbert challenged his peers to attack twenty-three unsolved problems in the field. It was a bold move to open a new epoch, but owing to his commanding authority—he was the imposing mathematician’s mathematician—his challenge motivated the greats of his era and set their research program over the next four decades. As of today, the consensus holds that eight of Hilbert’s problems have been solved, with nine more solutions holding partial acceptance, leaving four problems left open.