The Hermann Weyl Zimmer, renovated

The first time I came to Zürich, I gave a lecture in the Number Theory Seminar. Like most seminars at ETH, it was held in the room named “Hermann Weyl Zimmer”. I learnt there the ETH blackboard-erasing technique, which is by far the best I’ve ever seen. Later, I had many occasions to enjoy the pleasant old-fashioned chairs in the back row, which are perfect when attending seminars for pleasure (in particular, when one doesn’t take notes).

Last summer, the room was renovated, and it was formally inaugurated yesterday with a nice apéro. I took a few pictures…

The quote over the statue reads

In meiner Arbeit habe ich immer versucht, das Wahre mit dem Schönen zu vereinen; wenn ich mich über das Eine oder das Andere entscheiden musste, habe ich stets das Schöne gewählt.

which means (translation mine):

In my work, I have always tried to unite the True with the Beautiful; when I had to decide between one of them, I have always chosen what was Beautiful.

or

Dans mes travaux, j’ai toujours cherché à unir le Vrai avec le Beau ; lorsque j’ai dû décider entre l’un et l’autre, j’ai toujours choisi le Beau.

(I will not attempt an Italian translation…)

Here one can see the secret ETH tool for cleaning the blackboard:

And here are the chairs:

Finally, courtesy of my new phone, a panoramic view…

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Kowalski

I am a professor of mathematics at ETH Zürich since 2008.

One thought on “The Hermann Weyl Zimmer, renovated”

  1. The Hermann Weyl Zimmer, that’s where I’ve defended my thesis!

    Let me attempt an Italian translation for you:

    “Nel mio lavoro ho sempre cercato di unire la Verità e la Bellezza; dovendo scegliere tra l’una o l’altra, ho sempre scelto la Bellezza.”

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