Julia Robinson and Hilbert’s Tenth Problem: A documentary film directed and produced by George Csicsery, Zala Films

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A one-hour biographical documentary, Julia Robinson and Hilbert’s Tenth Problem tells the story of a pioneer among American women in mathemat­ics. Julia Robinson was the first woman elected to the mathematical section of the National Academy of Sciences, and the first woman to become presi­dent of the American Mathematical Society. Julia Robinson’s work, and the exciting story of the path that led to the solution of Hilbert’s tenth problem in 1970, produced an unusual friendship between Russian and American colleagues at the height of the Cold War.

In this film, Robinson’s major contribution to the solution of H10 triggers a tour of 20th century mathematics that moves from Paris in 1900, through the United States, to the Soviet Union, and back. Julia Robinson’s work hinged on the ideas of key protagonists in the history of mathematics and logic: David Hilbert, Alfred Tarski, Alan Turing, and Kurt Gödel, among others. The film interweaves the personal story of this important figure in Ameri­can mathematics and the ideas that dominated her passionate pursuit of the field. Three of the four mathematicians involved in solving H10 are in the film—Yuri Matiyasevich, Martin Davis and Hilary Putnam. Fortunately, Julia Robinson’s place in the film is filled by her biographer and sister, Con­stance Reid, who also wrote highly acclaimed biographies of David Hilbert and of other modern mathematicians, including E. T. Bell.