Mathematics:
Happy Hilbert’s Birthday.
Today is the birthday
of mathematician
David Hilbert (1862-1943).
Narrative:
See a different Hilbert– namely Jules, a fictional professor of literary theory at the University of Illinois at Chicago played by Dustin Hoffman in “Stranger than Fiction” (cf. yesterday’s entry). See also, in today’s previous entry, Stanley Fish– a non-fictional literary theorist and former dean at the same institution.
Related material:
“The Gift in ‘Stranger than Fiction’,” by Eric Austin Lee (June 1, 2007).
Lee’s essay might please another mathematician whose name appears in the film. The clever but heartless Professor Hilbert is opposed, indirectly, in “Stranger than Fiction” by a Harvard Law dropout, Ana, who dispenses eucharistic blessings, in the form of cookies, at her Chicago bakery/café– filmed at a real Chicago location, Catedral Café. Her last name is Pascal.