The suffers that great mathematicians had

[drake]

Hi :)
I'm a math student and I like reading lives of mathematicians. And I want to learn how Gauss, Erdos, Hilbert etc. started, what were the problems at first, how did they overcome? I want to be a mathematician if I can handle it, and I really want to learn how to be a good, a skilled mathematician. I wonder if they had diaries :) Thanks and have a nice day.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Welcome to PF;
All the people you mention have copious personal and public writings.
You will find many fine biographies of all these people in a decent library, and there are online summaries which can provide a starting place from which you can refine your queries.

It is quite unlikely that you will have the same or even similar challenges to them tough.
i.e. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Gauss.html, for instance, was a child prodigy who had aristocratic patronage.

 

[mal4mac]

I spent too much time reading biographies & "philosophy of mathematics" in my UG days, and ended up with a good rather than *very* good degree. A good mathematician is someone who always comes top of the class in UG, or at least, if Gauss is a classmate, is almost top, and on target for a very good "first". If you aren't of that standard, then you need to do more mathematics, not read biographies.

 

[sunny79]

I have been told that Men of Mathematics is a great book. Some other noteworthy mentions..

The man who knew infinity : A Life Of The Genius Ramanujan.
My brain is open : The Mathematical Journeys Of Paul Erdos.
Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians

Amazon stocks a lot of great Mathematician biographies. I also agree with mal4mac. The only way you can become good at it is to really immerse yourself into it and do more mathematics.