21. Einstein and Hilbert
21. 爱因斯坦与希尔伯特
In 1915 Einstein made a trip to Gottingen to give some lectures al the invitation of the mathematical physicist David Hilbert. He was particularly eager--too eager, it would turn out--to explain all the intricacies of relativity to him. The visit was a triumph, and he said to a friend excitedly, "I was able to convince Hilbert of the general theory of relativity."
爱因斯坦在1915年受数学物理学家大卫·希尔伯特的邀请去访问了哥廷根并做了多场演讲。结果证明，他极其渴望向希尔伯特解择相对论的所有错综复杂的关系。这次访问是一个胜利，他兴奋地给一位朋友说，“我能说服希尔伯特相信广义相对论。”
Amid all of Einstein's personal turmoil(焦躁) at the time, a new scientific anxiety was about to emerge. He was struggling to find the right equations that would describe his new concept of gravity, on that would define how objects move through space and how space is curved by objects By the end of the summer, he realized the mathematical approach he had been pursuing for almost three years was flawed. And now there was a competitive pressure. Einstein discovered to his horror that Hilbert had taken what he had learned from Einstein's lectures and was racing to come up with the correct equations first.
那时在爱因斯坦的所有焦躁之中，一种新的科学上的焦虑将要显现出来。他试图找到正确的方程组来解释他的万有引力的新概念，这些将确定物体是如何通过空间进行移动的以及空间是如何被物体弯曲的。直到夏末，他意识到三年以来一直追求的数学方法有缺陷。现在有了一个竞争压力。爱因斯坦发现令他，感到害怕的是希尔伯特采取了他从爱因斯坦的讲座中学来的东西，正奋力想最先得出正确的等式。
It was an enormously complex task. Although Einstein was the better physicist, Hilbert was the better mathematician. So in October 1915 Einstein threw himself into a month-long frantic endeavor in which he returned to an earlier mathematical strategy and wrestled with equations, proofs, corrections and updates that he rushed to give as lectures to Berlin's Prussian Academy of Sciences on four successive Thursdays.
这是一个极其复杂的任务。虽然爱因斯坦是一位优秀的物理学家，但希尔伯特更是一位优秀的数学家。因此，在 1915年10月爱因斯坦投身于一个月疯狂的奋斗中，他返回到较早的数学战略并全力解决方程、证明、更正和更新中存在的问题，而且他在四个连续的星期四中急切地给柏林的普鲁士科学院做了讲座。
His first lecture was delivered on Nov. 4. 1915, and it explained his new approach, though he admitted he did not yet have the precise mathematical formulation of it. Einstein also took time off from furiously revising his equations to engage in an awkward fandango (方丹戈双人舞) with his competitor Hilbert. Worried about being scooped (抢先), he sent Hilbert a copy of his Nov. 4 lecture. "I am curious to know whether you will take kindly to this new solution," Einstein noted with a touch of defensiveness.
他的第一个讲座是在1915年11月4日进行的，讲座阐述了他的新方法，尽管他承认，他还没有精确的数学公式。在近乎疯狂的学术研究过程中，爱因斯坦还抽出一部分时间和他的竞争对手希尔伯特扯皮。由于担心被抢先，他给希尔伯特寄了一份他11月4日的讲座。“我很好奇你是否会友好地对待这一新的解决方案，”爱因斯坦特别提到这个，带着一点儿防御的意思。