Subject: [Fwd: categories: Re: Bob Gordon from a colleague] Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2001 08:45:07 -0400 From: jim stasheff To: mccleary , morava , haynes , dondavis Marvelous idea - an archive of anecdotes. Would htat we had someone with time on their hands to do the same for homtopy theory. jim --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: categories: Re: Bob Gordon from a colleague Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2001 09:15:48 +0100 (BST) From: Anne Heyworth To: jim stasheff Dear Professor Stasheff, I recently started to collect anecdotes/stories about category theorists on a web site www.mcs.le.ac.uk/~ah83/cat-myths I wonder if I could include the email written by Eric Grinberg about Bob Gordon, which you posted? The reason for the archive is to try and preserve some of the history about the people behind the theory. Many of us only beginning in our research careers do enjoy finding out about the people whose theorems we encounter and even if we are lucky enough to have a supervisor who tells us such things, we are likely not to remember enough detail to pass on the story in full. The archive is small but there are a few nice stories there already. I hope I may include your email. sincerely, Anne. -------------------------------------------------- Have you visited www.thehungersite.com today? -------------------------------------------------- On Mon, 2 Jul 2001, jim stasheff wrote: > > [note from moderator: Jim Stasheff says he'll accept further anecdotes etc > to pass on, or they may be sent directly to Mmaygord@aol.com ] > > > Eric Grinberg, Bob's closest colleague at Temple, says you can distribute > this. > > > >From Eric Grinberg: > > I remember vividly a day in the early 1990s when Bob came to visit me in > my office. I don't recall what led to the visit, but we were facing a > somewhat outdated Zenith 386 PC and talking about computers. He did not > yet have a computer of his own but was clearly getting interested. Knowing > that Bob had sustained an injury to his hands, I offered that there were > special input devices that he might like to use better than the Zenith > keyboard on my desk, and that with these the computer might be a more > effective writing tool than the pen. In the course of the conversation I > learned that Bob was quite skilled in using his hands for tasks not often > associated with mathematicians: operating a farm tractor, building a barn > and servicing a 19th century wood stove. I soon realized that my > suggestion was naively motivated and perhaps misguided: Bob was every bit > as capable of using a keyboard as I was, if not more so. But he was not > put-off. We started to talk about computers in general and soon arranged > to meet in a local store where Bob would customize and take home a PC. He > was the first in Wycombe to have a 486 machine! > > Starting with OS2 software and SCSI (read: SCUZZI) hardware we established > an ongoing conversation about computers and ramafications which continued > year after year. Though Bob was always very modest about his learning > ability, knowledge and experience, in fact, he would go from zero to > expert in no time. Weeks, or even days after being introduced to a PC he > knew its features to fine detail. In several cases I would bring up a new > topic for Bob, and soon thereafter I would be learning about it from him. > While initially unintended, this worked so well that I began to think of > an algorithm every time there was something new to be learned: if you want > to know more about X, first get Bob interested in X and then have him > teach it to you. > > If someone were to draw a Department of Mathematics, Temple University > view of the world, in analogy with the famous New Yorker cover, then Bob's > house would probably be placed somewhere in the hyperplane at infinity. I > remember the first time I drove to Forest Grove road. We were going to a > Department party which he hosted, and following a long directions document > through twisting country roads. (This was some time before MAPQUEST.COM > went online.) I was very impressed with the rustic setting, the river, > bridge, old train station, field, barn, blueberry bushes, adjoining goose > sanctuary, and more. I was particularly impressed to learn that Bob built > the barn himself. I hear that day trippers from New York CIty are so taken > by the sight that they knock on the door and ask if they can rent this > colonial era farm house for the summer. > > Soon I learned the way to Wycombe very well. In the mid 1990s I started a > series of commutes, first to central New Jersey, then to New York, and > after that to Boston. For any of these destinations, Bob's house was on > the way, or on the way back, sort of. On a regular basis we would get > together and catch up on what we had been doing, usually in front of a > computer, and often fortified with delicious treats provided by Muriel. > Given the distance between meetings, both geometric and temporal, our > chats would last well into the night. In winter, the computer operations > were sometimes interrupted by service calls to the wood stove on the other > side of the room. The stove was just another peripheral device. Driving > afterwards challenged my abilities to stay awake and negotiate dark > winding country roads. Sometimes the roles would be reversed and Bob would > visit me. There was one important difference: when in my place we had to > order out at the Imperial Gourmet (one of my favorite local places which > became Bob's favorite too). We were two of a diminishing breed of users > of the OS2 operating system. (For better or for worse, your last airline > ticket and bank statement may have both been produced by OS2.) By > coincidence, the Greater Philadelphia OS2 User Society had its meetings > just down the street from my house, and this gave us another occasion to > get together. > > Bob told me that he rediscovered art through computers. A quick stroll > through the Gordons' house shows that artists live there. Though he always > had an interest in art, this interest was renewed with vigor after he got > an internet connection. We would often gaze at the beautiful monitor which > he had chosen with care and we would review the latest electronic > reproduction of an art treasure. He was always generous in sharing results > of hours of laborious investigations when he searched and compared online > art, finding the best available presentations of notable works. > > Bob was an accomplished musician. In his teens he was on the composer > track, though he later opted for a career in mathematics. But he > maintained his interest in music and had a substantial collection of vinyl > records. With the advent of the information age in Wycombe, Bob set up his > computer to handle music at a high level of fidelity. As with art, he > meticulously compared performances available on electronic media, > especially piano pieces, until he isolated the best ones, and then > generously offered the results of his investigations freely. The > simultaneous appreciation of art and music on Bob's workstation was truly > dramatic and is worthy of reproduction. > > In pursuing his newly cultivated computer interests, Bob tested the limits > of enduser technology. For instance, in order to play classical music on > the computer at a high level of quality, he acquired one of the latest, > largest, fastest scsi(read: SCUZZI) disk drives. Installing the device > presented some difficulties which required contacting the manufacturer. > The head engineer decided to modify the design of the main data cable > after learning of Bob's observations. In the same vein, Bob began to use a > graphics tablet which he found preferable to a mouse, and his experience > with setting up the device influenced the main software developers for > this device. > > I visited Bob one day after he had been hospitalized. Though confined to > an intensive care unit, he was sharp, alert, and in good spirits. He gave > me an update on his situation, displaying a keen awareness of the medical > issues involved. He had consulted with experts, gathered a database > (purely mental in this case) of facts, figures and options relevant to his > case, and made comparisons when possible. Clearly, he had caught up with > his doctors and knew all that medicine could offer him with certainty, and > all that was still not yet understood by the profession. One aspect of > doctor-patient relations was of paramount importance to Bob: honesty. He > made it clear to his physicians that he expected full disclosure. Good > news or bad, he wanted to know thefacts. > > When his diagnosis was ambiguous he sought the advice of a childhood > friend, now a world class medical authority. Bob's follow-up discussion > with his local doctors gave them some new insights. Talking with him, I > was reminded of how he learned everything about computers so quickly. This > was the same Bob. He hadn't changed a bit. > > Robert, as his family calls him, was a well known and highly respected > mathematician. Recently I returned from a visit to a Belgian University. > There I met a student who just defended his thesis in category theory. I > mentioned to him that Temple University has a category theorist on the > faculty. "Bob Gordon, of course", replied the student, "he is doing very > important work with Ross Street and also with John Power". Given the speed > and skill with which he gained expertise in computers, I regret not > learning from him more about his mathematics. > > Bob was a friend, a buddy and a colleague. He was warm, generous, and > bright. He had a passion for exploring and learning new ideas, and he was > always eager to share insights that he so quickly grasped. I always looked > forward to our meetings and conversations, where we caught up on thoughts, > ideas and experiences. His untimely departure creates a great void. I will > miss him terribly. > > > > > >