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The birthplace of schemes
Wikipedia claims: “The word scheme was first used in the 1956 Chevalley Seminar, in which Chevalley was pursuing Zariski’s ideas.” and refers to the lecture by Chevalley ‘Les schemas’, given on December 12th, 1955 at the ENS-based ‘Seminaire Henri Cartan’ (in fact, that year it was called the Cartan-Chevalley seminar, and the next year Chevalley […]
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Le Guide Bourbaki : La Ciotat (2)
Rereading the Grothendieck-Serre correspondence I found a letter from Serre to Grothendieck, dated October 22nd 1958, which forces me to retract some claims from the previous La Ciotat post. Serre writes this ten days after the second La Ciotat-congress (La Tribu 46), held from October 5th-12th 1958: “The Bourbaki meeting was very pleasant; we all…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : Celles-sur-Plaine
Bourbaki held His Spring-Congresses between 1952 and 1954 in Celles-sur-Plaine in the Vosges department. La Tribu 27, ‘Congres croupion des Vosges’ (March 8th-16th, 1952) La Tribu 30, ‘Congres nilpotent’ (March 1st-8th, 1953) La Tribu 33, ‘Congres de la tangente’ (March 28th-April 3rd, 1954) As we can consult the Bourbaki Diktat of the first two meetings,…
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Charlie Hebdo on Grothendieck
Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly newspaper, victim of a terroristic raid in 2015, celebrates the 30th anniversary of its restart in 1992 (it appeared earlier from 1969 till 1981). Charlie’s collaborators have looked at figures who embody, against all odds, freedom, and one of the persons they selected is Alexandre Grothendieck, ‘Alexandre Grothendieck –…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : La Ciotat
Two Bourbaki-congresses were organised at the Côte d’Azur, in La Ciotat, claiming to have one of the most beautiful bays in the world. La Tribu 35, ‘Congres du banc public’ (February 27th – March 6th, 1955) La Tribu 46, ‘Congres du banquet auxiliaire’ (October 5th-12th, 1958) As is the case for all Bourbaki-congresses after 1953,…
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Grothendieck’s haircut
Browsing through La Tribu (the internal report of Bourbaki-congresses), sometimes you’ll find an answer to a question you’d never ask? Such as: “When did Grothendieck decide to change his looks?” Photo on the left is from 1951 taken by Paulo Ribenboim, on a cycling tour to Pont-a-Mousson (between Nancy and Metz). The photo on the…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : Royaumont
At least six Bourbaki-congresses were held in ‘Royaumont’: La Tribu 18 : ‘Congres oecumenique du cocotier’, April 13th-25th 1949 La Tribu 22 : ‘Congres de la revanche du cocotier’, April 5th-17th 1950 La Tribu without number : ‘Congres de l’horizon’, October 8th-15th 1950 La Tribu 26 : ‘Congres croupion’, October 1st-9th 1951 La Tribu 31…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : Murol(s)
The preparations for the unique Bourbaki-congress in Murols, start already in La Tribu 32 (fall 1953). On page 3: “Summer 54: To suit Phileas Chevalley, Sammy Fogg and eventual Mexicans and Colombians, this Congress will be held from August 17 to 30. Samuel will look for a hotel in Auvergne, but everyone is asked to…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : Pelvoux
Pelvoux is a former commune (now merged into Vallouise-Pelvoux) in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. No less than five summer-Bourbaki congresses took place in Pelvoux: La Tribu 25 : Congres oecumenique de Pelvoux (June 25th – July 8th 1951) La Tribu 28 : Congres de la motorisation de l’ane…
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Le Guide Bourbaki : Amboise
Between 1955 and 1960 four Bourbaki congresses were held in Amboise, a small market town on the river Loire, and once home of the French royal court. La Tribu 38, from March 11th-17th 1956, ‘Congres des trois angles plats’ La Tribu 40, fromOctober 7th-14th 1956, ‘Congres de l’intelligence peu commune’ La Tribu 41, from March…