Урожаи и посевы

by Alexandre Grothendieck, Александр Гротендик

Первый перевод с французского книги «Recoltes et Semailles» выдающегося математика современности Александра Гротендика. Автор пытается проанализировать природу математического открытия, отношения учителя и учеников, роль математики в жизни и обществе. Текст книги является философски глубоким и нетривиальным и носит характер воспоминаний и размышлений.
Книга будет интересна широкому кругу читателей — математикам, физикам, философам и всем интересующимся историческими, методическими и нравственными вопросами, связанными с процессом математического открытия и возникновения новых теорий.

Genres: Mathematics, Biography, Science, Nonfiction, Memoir

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Alexander Grothendieck (born 28 March 1928 in Berlin, Germany; died 13 November 2014 in St Girons, Ariège) is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. He is most famous for his revolutionary advances in algebraic geometry, but he has also made major contributions to algebraic topology, number theory, category theory, Galois theory ("new" math), descent theory, commutative homological algebra and functional analysis. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966, and was co-awarded the Crafoord Prize with Pierre Deligne in 1988. He declined the latter prize on ethical grounds in an open letter to the media.

He is noted for his mastery of abstract approaches to mathematics, and his perfectionism in matters of formulation and presentation. In particular, he demonstrated the ability to derive concrete results using only very general methods.[1][2][3] Relatively little of his work after 1960 was published by the conventional route of the learned journal, circulating initially in duplicated volumes of seminar notes; his influence was to a considerable extent personal, on French mathematics and the Zariski school at Harvard University. He is the subject of many stories and some misleading rumors concerning his work habits and politics, his confrontations with other mathematicians and the French authorities, his withdrawal from mathematics at age 42, his retirement, and his subsequent lengthy writings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grothend...

Reviews

[Owlseyes]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

[Guillaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting reflection on how to do research. Beautiful writings about creativity, curiosity, and the importance of "being alone" i.e. to have the courage to pursue a path of inquiry even if it goes against the opinions of many. But also emphasize the importance of listening and learning from others The writing style is excellent and feels deeply personal.

I suspect however that this is a style that might have worked well for Grothendieck but is not for everyone, even though he does not seem to acknowledge it: he was certainly extremely brilliant and gifted with a powerful brain :)

I found the parts on Grothendieck's grievances about his colleagues much less interesting.

[Mme V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Ma démonstration n’était pas celle du bouquin, que
[l’enseignant] suivait religieusement. (…) Visiblement, cet homme qui m’enseignait ne se sentait pas capable de juger par ses propres lumières (ici, la validité d’un raisonnement). Il fallait qu’il se reporte à une autorité, celle d’un livre en l’occurrence.(…) Par la suite,et jusqu’à aujourd’hui encore, j’ai eu ample occasion pourtant de voir que de telles dispositions ne sont nullement l’exception, mais la règle quasi-universelle. (…) Mais aujourd’hui encore, que je le veuille ou non, je me sens décontenancé, chaque fois que je m’y retrouve confronté… »

[Uladzislau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Я читал обсуждение работ и личности Гротендика в математических сообществах, оценки в общем-то довольно полярны и колеблются в пределах от "гений из гениев" до "сильно переоценен". Правда большинство из этих математиков понять суть работ Гротендика не в состоянии, но не потому что посредственны, а потому что прошли времена специалистов широкого профиля. Сам автор в предисловии позиционирует книгу, как герменевтическое исследование своего внутреннего "я". Мне это "я" не показалось настолько интересным, чтобы читать дальше первых глав. Как-то так.

[Hanna Abi Akl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep-dive into one of the most controversial and brilliant mathematical minds. The book reads like a memoir and the chapters oscillate between philosophical musings and personal affairs to give us a closer look behind the doors of the life of Grothendieck.

[TheNiceTitan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lowkey could inky find the introduction online but that shit was so fire