Re: Bourbaki?

*** T. Winter wrote:

Bourbaki is adopted as name by a group of French mathematicians.
It was also the name of a real person (a particularly unsuccesful French
general). Originally it was a joking adaption, but became more serious
in the course of times. The family of the real general was not amused.

But it was an extraordinary choice.
Has any explanation ever been given?

I believe Andre Weil, who was probably the father-figure,
was extremely anti-militaristic, even for a mathematician.
(Wasn't he sentenced to death for refusing to register for the army
under the Vichy regime, or is my memory playing up?)


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
.