Publication of writings by Alexander Grrothendieck
Dear All, In view of a letter written by Alexander Grothendieck on January 3, 2010, giving a kind of interdiction on further publication of any of his writings or correspondence, in any form, I would like to make the following clear. I started corresponding with Alexander in 1982; this turned into a friendly and warm correspondence, which he later termed `a baton rompu', and which I found greatly encouraging. I early on asked him if I might circulate what he wrote to some of those interested, and he gave me full permission. This led to the circulation in 1983 of successive parts of Pursuing Stacks, a manuscript `written in English in response to a correspondence in English'. My memory is that he wrote that he sent out two copies, to me and to Larry Breen. At that time, he was pleased at the further circulation and the interest in it. It would seem to me to be in the public domain. On the question of publication, he insisted that any publication should be with nothing removed. At one time he suggested that Pursuing Stacks was to be Part I of a new work `A la Poursuite des Champs' in several volumes and in a new and innovative style. The later manuscripts, Esquisse d'un Programme, and Recolte et Semaille, were widely circulated by him, I believe. The last letter I had from him was in 1991, very friendly, in response to a postcard from Iona. I hope these comments are helpful. Ronnie Brown www.bangor.ac.uk/r.brown Further information on the letter with much discussion is at *http://sbseminar.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/grothendiecks-letter/ * [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
Ronnie Brown wrote:
Dear All,
In view of a letter written by Alexander Grothendieck on January 3, 2010, giving a kind of interdiction on further publication of any of his writings or correspondence, in any form, I would like to make the following clear.
I started corresponding with Alexander in 1982; this turned into a friendly and warm correspondence, which he later termed `a baton rompu', There's a totally different meaning for baton rompu I wonder which came first and how the tranmogrificatio occurred
jim [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
Googling "baton rompu" gives some consensus. Eg Je dirais qu'une conversation à bâtons rompus est une conversation qui n'est pas préparée, qui part un peu dans tous les sens... ''A bâtons rompus'' désigne une conversationplutot désorganisée. Alors qu'en Afrique, une technique consistait à faire tourner un bâton (le bâton à palabres), le détenteur étant seul habilité à parler. Le bâton rompu laisse chacun libre de parler comme bon lui semble Such a conversation could also be friendly and warm. I don't think we need to infer some different meaning... On 13 Feb 2010, at 21:49, jim stasheff wrote:
Ronnie Brown wrote:
Dear All,
In view of a letter written by Alexander Grothendieck on January 3, 2010, giving a kind of interdiction on further publication of any of his writings or correspondence, in any form, I would like to make the following clear.
I started corresponding with Alexander in 1982; this turned into a friendly and warm correspondence, which he later termed `a baton rompu', There's a totally different meaning for baton rompu I wonder which came first and how the tranmogrificatio occurred
jim
[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
What he actually wrote in Esquisses d'un programme was in part C'est stimulé par une correspondance à bâtons rompus avec Ronnie Brown, que j'ai finalement repris une réflexion, ....... I am not sure what his intended meaning was, except as in one dictionary, as I remember referring to a conversation `ranging over this and that with sudden changes of direction', but the correspondence was also warm, friendly and fun! And in the early 1980s he was keen to share his views, circulated notes, and corresponded with many. I hope that the gifts he made in that period will be widely shared. Ronnie Michael Fourman wrote:
Googling "baton rompu" gives some consensus. Eg
Je dirais qu'une conversation à bâtons rompus est une conversation qui n'est pas préparée, qui part un peu dans tous les sens...
''A *bâtons* rompus'' désigne une *conversation*plutot désorganisée. Alors qu'en Afrique, une technique consistait à faire tourner un bâton (le bâton à palabres), le détenteur étant seul habilité à parler. Le bâton rompu laisse chacun libre de parler comme bon lui semble
Such a conversation could also be friendly and warm. I don't think we need to infer some different meaning...
[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
Michael Fourman wrote:
Googling "baton rompu" gives some consensus. Eg
Je dirais qu'une conversation à bâtons rompus est une conversation qui n'est pas préparée, qui part un peu dans tous les sens...
''A *bâtons* rompus'' désigne une *conversation*plutot désorganisée. Alors qu'en Afrique, une technique consistait à faire tourner un bâton (le bâton à palabres), le détenteur étant seul habilité à parler. Le bâton rompu laisse chacun libre de parler comme bon lui semble
Such a conversation could also be friendly and warm. I don't think we need to infer some different meaning...
My interest was purely linguistic I had found also a tyoe of parquet floor and Ronnie found yet another woody meaning jim [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
[note from moderator: this discussions seems disorganized, so perhaps it could continue off-line. Thanks, Bob] Dear All Perhaps a native French speaker will come in to confirm: I checked the expression in my Robert. I found Parler a batons rompus: de maniere peu suivie, en changeant de sujet,... . Thus the meaning seems to be something like having a disorganized discussion. Regards Johannes On Sat, 13 Feb 2010, jim stasheff wrote:
Ronnie Brown wrote:
Dear All,
In view of a letter written by Alexander Grothendieck on January 3, 2010, giving a kind of interdiction on further publication of any of his writings or correspondence, in any form, I would like to make the following clear.
I started corresponding with Alexander in 1982; this turned into a friendly and warm correspondence, which he later termed `a baton rompu', There's a totally different meaning for baton rompu I wonder which came first and how the tranmogrificatio occurred
jim
[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]
participants (4)
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jim stasheff -
Johannes Huebschmann -
Michael Fourman -
Ronnie Brown