Visiting Grothendieck
Posted by John Baez
Some people try to climb Mt. Everest or find an ivory-billed woodpecker; others attempt to track down the mysterious Alexander Grothendieck, who left home in 1991 and never came back. It’s probably not a wise thing to do. But surely someone is bound to try! After all, when perhaps the most visionary mathematician of the century simply goes and disappears, people are left with many questions.
Michael Barr pointed this out on the category theory mailing list:
- Roy Lisker, Visiting Alexandre Grothendieck.
Here’s a quote, just to get you interested…
A quote:
“Oh my!” Dr. Grothendieck muttered aloud, “I’ll have to call him right away! I can’t allow anyone to come out here!”
He carried the telephone over to a table and connected it to an outlet. No one answered that morning. When he called that evening the ringing of the bell was interrupted by the sweet, sad voice of a piano teacher with predilections for Bach concerts and street musicians.
“Hello? My name is Alexandre Grothendieck. Can I speak with Mr. Lisker?”
“I’m afraid not. He started out this morning to see you. He’s probably staying over in Avignon tonight.”
“Oh dear; did he really say he was coming to see me?”
“Yes. He was given your address from some teachers at the Université Paul Valéry. Until you called I thought that he’d just invented you as a strategy for getting away from me. I’m surprised to learn that you really exist.”
Re: Visiting Grothendieck
The fact that Roy Lisker talks about a
Renault deux chevaux supposedly driven by Grothendieck does not inspire much confidence in the accuracy of the story.
For non Europeans: it is Renault Quatre and Citroen Deux Chevaux. What Lisker does is like talking about a Chevrolet Mustang.