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Bourbaki



I am remembering an old tale regarding Nikolas Bourbaki and books presumably written by that personage. I was informed that in fact the name was a cover for a group of mathematicians publishing under the collective name. A letter was sent to a distinguished professor who was department chair at a midwestern university from the Encylopedia Britannica asking him to write a short biography of the mathematician preparing these great books. He wrote back, of course, stating the facts that Bourbaki was indeed a collective name for a group of mathematicians. A year or so later, the story was rapidly circulating that the distinguished professor was a collective name for a group of graduate students collaborating under that name. Seems to me his name was Boaz.




Too much of a good thing is wonderful!


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