David Hilbert and the foundations of the theory of plane area (Q2052227)

This is a careful look at Hilbert's theory of area in the \textit{Grundlagen der Geometrie} and in the lectures Hilbert held on the foundation of geometry in the 1890s. It focuses: (1) on the deep connection between Hilbert's elementary proof of De Zolt's postulate (if a polygon is divided into polygonal parts, then the union of all but one of these parts is not of equal area to the given polygon) -- a proof that does not use the Archimedean axiom -- and the segment arithmetic machinery with its resulting theory of proportion, and (2) on Hilbert's theory of area as a case of following the ``purity of the method'' desideratum, by excluding ``the concept of `extensive' or `measurable' magnitude from the axiomatic reconstruction Euclidean geometry''.