Re: Seeking a quote about 1930s algebraic topology

I recall an Eilenberg quote from the 1960's "Algebraic topology is a strange and bewildering field ... " I guess a google search yields the source right away. Best Johannes On Sun, 5 Jan 2014, Colin McLarty wrote:

It seems to me I recall someone, maybe Eilenberg, saying they gave a talk at Harvard in the 1930s on algebraic topology, where someone in the audience said the subject had reached a level of complexity that it would not be able to sustain.

Can anyone here confirm that? Or can someone correct me by giving a different story that I might have confused in my memory?

best, Colin

[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]