Back to Fermat's Last Theorem: Conference Report

August 11, 1995

There are several remarkable aspects to this conference, indicating a new trend in mathematics conferences generally: the majority of those in attendance are graduate students, although the lecturers include a good many of the tiny class of experts who, in a period of about 7 years, created the field of mathematics which made it possible for Wiles to construct his proof.

The field itself is a hybrid of Number Theory and algebraic geometry, with surprisingly little number theory. From the very first lectures I experienced the unsettling deja-vu of being in attendance at those lectures and conferences on modern Algebraic Geometry in which I can never understand anything, because the field was turned upside down and invested with all the grandeur of Beethoven's 9th, by the protean mathematical genius, Alexander Grothendieck, in the 1960's and 70's. It is my responsibility as a conscientious reporter, to let you know that I have studied the old, classical Algebraic Geometry, ( notably the texts of Hodge and Pedoe), and various branches of classical Number Theory, such as Analytic Number Theory, Additive Number Theory, the Geometry of Numbers, Diophantine Approximation, and all that. In addition to which I have met the great Grothendieck and have some insights into his spiritual and scientific messages to the world - but I do not understand his Algebraic Geometry.

The contemporary universe of mathematicians is in fact divided into "Those who do understand Grothendieck", and "Those who don't understand Grothendieck", with, naturally, several shades of grey: those who don't want to understand him,those who think they understand him, those who have never heard of him, those who may understand him but see no relevance of his ideas to their work, those, ( like myself), who wish they knew where he is because they are worried about him, ( he disappeared from the face of the map in 1993), and so forth.

To give a classic example. At the retirement conference for the very famous mathematician, Rene Thom, in Paris, September, 1988, held at the Institute Poincaré of the Sorbonne, and which I attended, we all heard him make the remark : " I have never understood anything that Alexandre Grothendieck has done, and I haven't the least desire to do so."

In all fairness to Thom, it is known that Alexandre Grothendieck didn't treat him very well when they were both at the Institute des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques ( the French Institute for Advanced Study), in the 70's. To Grothendieck, Thom and anyone else associated with the Institute was, prima facie, a capitalistic tool, stoodge, running dog, and unregenerable militarist.

You can obtain my seven article series about my meetings with the reclusive hermit, Alexander Grothendieck, in the south of France in May of 1988, by sending a check or money order for $25 to:

Roy Lisker
150 Kisor Road
Highland, NY 12528