Publication of writings by Alexander Grrothendieck

Publication of writings by Alexander Grrothendieck

[Ronnie Brown]

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/ ]

Re: Publication of writings by Alexander Grrothendieck

[jim stasheff]

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/ ]

Re: Publication of writings by Alexander Grothendieck

[Michael Fourman]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: multipart/alternative, Size: 1266 bytes --]

Re: Publication of writings by Alexander Grothendieck

[Ronnie Brown]

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/ ]

Re: Publication of writings by Alexander Grothendieck

[jim stasheff]

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/ ]

Re: Publication of writings by Alexander Grrothendieck

[Johannes Huebschmann]

[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/ ]