4 4 0 D O C U M E N T 4 4 7 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 2 5
Concerning the issue itself, I do not fear, as Bieberbach apparently does, that we
are going to be receiving too much material from abroad, specifically from the
French. And our having made a selection among contributions by German mathe-
maticians merely had the purpose of sparing us too much unsuitable material. It
goes without saying that we reserve the right to final acceptance of each paper on
an individual basis—even if it comes from abroad. Of course, if we are in receipt
of contributions delivered by Painlevé or
Hadamard,[4]
for inst., who both sponta-
neously provided definite proof that they esteem us highly and want to collaborate
with us, then these should not be rejected simply because—this is the intent of our
decision—their authors are Frenchmen. This decision is inalterable for me and I
also ask you please to proceed in this sense.
With best wishes I am yours,
D. Hilbert.
P. S. Over here we have been occupying ourselves a great deal with your paper
on the ideal gas in the last few seminar
sessions.[5]
Could you send me an offprint
of it, and above all also of your latest communication on the same
subject?[6]
It is
a great pity that the secretariat of your
Academy[7]
sends me the Reports only
months after they have even appeared in bookstores!—Then one more thing: It re-
ally would be very nice and would be much appreciated by all of us if you would
also once favor the Math. Annalen with a contribution. Could you not perhaps use
these papers on ideal gas for that? Maybe in a more complete exposition! For your
first paper is quite difficult to read.
H.