Inside the Secret Math Society Known Simply as Nicolas Bourbaki | Quanta Magazine

“Bourbaki began in 1934, the initiative of a small number of recent ENS alumni. Many of them were among the best mathematicians of their generation. But as they surveyed their field, they saw a problem. The exact nature of that problem is also the subject of myth.”

Read the Article | Quanta Magazine | Kevin Hartnett

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Thumbnail: “Photo taken in the Bourbaki Congress of 1938 in Dieulefit. From left to right: Simone Weil (accompanying her brother André), Charles Pisot, André Weil (hidden), Jean Dieudonné (sitting), Claude Chabauty, Charles Ehresmann, and Jean Delsarte” / Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Raphael, The School of Athens, 1509–1511, fresco at the Raphael Rooms, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City / Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons