[HN Gopher] The Mathematical Center of the Universe (1807-1933)
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       The Mathematical Center of the Universe (1807-1933)
        
       Author : jorgenveisdal
       Score  : 58 points
       Date   : 2023-01-30 07:24 UTC (15 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.privatdozent.co)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.privatdozent.co)
        
       | killjoywashere wrote:
       | If you want a deep dive on Gottingen, Constance Reid's biography
       | of Hilbert is great.
       | 
       | Fun fact: Hilbert was born in Konigsberg, a port city on the
       | Baltic with a famous set of 7 bridges, and as part of the WWII
       | peace settlement between the allies, Russia got it. But not
       | without some interest stipulations.
       | 
       | Konigsberg is now Kaliningrad, in the Kaliningrad Oblast, a
       | geographically separated province of Russia. In order for Russia
       | to regain direct access to the Kalingrad port (Konigsberg),
       | Russia would have to invade either Lithuania or Poland. And if
       | you look at the borders, it's pretty clear they were designed as
       | a lock: a straight shot from the nearest point in Russia would go
       | through Lithuania, then Poland, and Lithuania again.
       | 
       | https://www.amazon.com/Hilbert-Constance-Reid/dp/0387946748/
        
         | tmathmeyer wrote:
         | I think you've misremembered geography here - a straight line
         | from "mainland" Russia to Kaliningrad cuts through Lithuania
         | and Latvia, and to involve Poland here, you'd have to be
         | drawing a line from Belarus. Additionally, when Kaliningrad was
         | handed over to the Soviets, it was contiguous as part of the
         | USSR. There was no "design" to make the Russians upset about
         | it.
         | 
         | Map: https://imgur.com/a/xtBJAig
        
         | Ralfp wrote:
         | 1992 Russia offered Kaliningrad to both Poland and Lithuania,
         | but neither country was interested in a region with seriously
         | underdeveloped economy and inhabited by Russians who wouldn't
         | feel either Polish or Lithuanian, nor would they speak the
         | language.
         | 
         | > And if you look at the borders, it's pretty clear they were
         | designed as a lock
         | 
         | Assuming you speak about Suwalki Corridor, those borders
         | reflect pre-war borders of local counties. No mastermind
         | planning to make it hard for Russia to make it from Belarus to
         | Kaliningrad. In fact it was Russia who drove those lines in
         | first place after WW2.
         | 
         | Only ,,problem" Russia would have to solve in eventual
         | aggression is getting an army into Belarus. But they can just
         | target the Baltics instead and strike from their own territory.
        
           | georgecmu wrote:
           | _1992 Russia offered Kaliningrad to both Poland and
           | Lithuania, but neither country was interested in a region
           | with seriously underdeveloped economy and inhabited by
           | Russians who wouldn't feel either Polish or Lithuanian, nor
           | would they speak the language._
           | 
           | Interesting -- I haven't heard about this. Do you know where
           | I can find out more about this offer?
           | 
           | I have spent some time in the summers of 1993-1995 in
           | Lithuania near the border with Kaliningrad on the Curonian
           | spit. I believe the Russian fleet was still based in Klaipeda
           | in 1994.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | glass3 wrote:
       | There was also a talk in 1920 about universal computation 16
       | years before Turing:
       | 
       | https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/12/where-did-combin...
        
         | wslh wrote:
         | Impressive research! I have an story that is related to this
         | kind of history research and genealogy but not with math. My
         | great-great-grandfather was born in Gornostaypol [1], before
         | the XX century. He came to Argentina with some of his children
         | and my grandfather. Beyond my family and Internet genealogy
         | will be very difficult to get information (without going to
         | Ukraine...) and who can remember him or something about my
         | family in 2023 in a village with minimum population? The Google
         | search is more complex also because his surname was "men".
         | 
         | So... a post appeared in July 13, 2022 talking about my great-
         | great-grandfather from the memories of a women who was born in
         | 1938 [2]. Those are amazing things such as searching a needle
         | in a haystack. Randomness helps.
         | 
         | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornostaipil
         | 
         | [2] https://jewua.org/gornostaypol/
        
       | kensai wrote:
       | What a great time to live and do maths in Gottingen.
        
         | Haga wrote:
         | [dead]
        
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