Subject: Re: [HM] Bourbaki, theory, and problems
From: Franz Lemmermeyer (lemmerm@mpim-bonn.mpg.de)
Date: Tue Feb 08 2000 - 09:02:08 EST
[Franz Lemmermeyer]
>
> Although more on the problem-solving side myself, I do agree
> wholeheartedly with Lang here (I assume everybody knows the
> stories around the reviews of Lang and Mordell of each others
> book).
[Eric Detrez]
>
> Maybe I am the only one ... But I don't know this story.
> Could you tell it ?
You can find the reviews in
Bull. AMS 70 (1964), 491-498 (Mordell on Lang)
Bull. AMS 76 (1970), 1230-1234 (Lang on Mordell)
After Mordell's review, Siegel wrote a letter to Mordell that not
only agreed with his review but went as far as comparing Lang (and
his fellow-travellers) with the Nazis. A facsimile of the letter
as well as Lang's views on these matters and on 20th century
number theory as a whole can be found in the DMV Mitteilungen 4 /
1994, 20-31
In a nutshell, Siegel feared that mathematics would perish before
the end of this century if the "present trend of senseless
abstraction ... cannot be blocked up". Mordell seems to have felt
the same, as he used to show Siegel's letter to anyone who cared
(or didn't).
franz
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