Topology Atlas Document # topc-35.htm | Production Editor: Thomas M. Zachariah

TOPOLOGICAL COMMENTARY

Volume 2, #4, November 25, 1997

edited by Melvin Henriksen

commentary@mail.mathatlas.yorku.ca


This Issue of TOPOLOGICAL COMMENTARY is dedicated to my wife Louise Henriksen who passed away on October 11,1997.

I continue to invite commentary on any article in any issue of TopCom or on any topic of general interest to topologists, including news about topologists or topological activity.

Table of Contents

  1. Editorial remarks by Melvin Henriksen
  2. Leonard Gillman; an interview by Melvin Henriksen
  3. A memorial for Amer Beslagic by Ronnie Levy
  4. A book review by Jorge Martinez
  5. A historical vignette - "Pondiczery = Ralph Boas"
  6. The mystery topologist
  7. Cameron's history of mathematics web pages
  8. Mystery Topologist II contest
  9. A link to Reinhold's Math in the Movies
  10. A link to Kuperberg's photos
  11. Annotated Mathematical Bookmarks by Mark Woodard

1. EDITORIAL REMARKS

by Melvin Henriksen

Electronic Journals are here to stay!

2. LEONARD GILLMAN; AN INTERVIEW

by Melvin Henriksen

Leonard Gillman has a long and distinguished career as a concert pianist who earned a diploma in piano from the Julliard School of Music, an applied mathematician working for the United States Navy during the second world war, a set-theorist and topologist who wrote many research papers as well as being a co-author with Meyer Jerison of the definitive text "Rings of Continuous Functions" that set the tone for research in this area for the next quarter century, the builder of an excellent mathematics department at the University of Rochester, chairman of the mathematics department at the University of Texas, Secretary-Treasurer of the MAA for many years, and finally its President, author of many excellent expository articles for the American Mathematical Monthly as well as a monograph on how to write mathematics. He consented to summarize his career in a lengthy interview which will appear in two parts.

Leonard Gillman; an interview, part 1

3. A MEMORIAL FOR AMER BESLAGIC

by Ronnie Levy

It was announced in the last issue of Topological Commentary that Amer Beslagic died in July in a mountain climbing accident. This is a memorial for Amer Beslagic by his friend and colleague Ronnie Levy of George Mason University.

Amer Beslagic - a memorial

4. A BOOK REVIEW

Theory of Lattice-Ordered Groups by Michael R. Darnel,
Monographs and Textbooks in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 187.
Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1995.
viii+539 pp. ISBN: 0-8247-9326-9

Reviewed by Jorge Martinez

5. PONDICZERY WAS RALPH BOAS - A HISTORICAL VIGNETTE

by Melvin Henriksen

This is the first of what I hope to be a series of historical vignettes. It is a brief report of a piece of mathematical history known to older mathematicians in danger of being forgotten if not passed on to the next generation. I hope that our readers will contribute many such vignettes.

Pondiczery was Ralph Boas - A Historical Vignette

6. "THE MYSTERY TOPOLOGIST"

The winner of the "THE MYSTERY TOPOLOGIST" contest is Douglas Cameron.
"The Mystery Topologist" is ...

7. CAMERON'S HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS WEB PAGES

An introduction to Douglas Cameron's website: "My Pictures from the History of Mathematics"

8. MYSTERY TOPOLOGIST II CONTEST

Courtesy of Scott Williams, we present a second mystery topologist whose identity we ask the readers of Topological Commentary to discover. While not nearly as famous as the first mystery topologist, his work is well-known and is quoted often.
Mystery Topologist II: What is his name?

9. A LINK TO REINHOLD'S MATH IN THE MOVIES PAGE

Arnold G. Reinhold's "Math in the Movies" exhibits the (small) role played by mathematicians in the movies. The closest thing to topology in this website is the rigorous proof of the snake lemma given by Jill Clayburgh playing the role of a Professsor of Mathematics at Princeton.
The Math in the Movies Page

10. A LINK TO KUPERBERG'S PHOTOS AT AN OBERWOLFACH CONFERENCE

Krystyna Kuperberg (Auburn University) took some excellent photos of topologists during a Dynamical Systems conference at Oberwolfach this last July. We add a link to them here.
Kuperberg's photos

11. ANNOTATED MATHEMATICAL BOOKMARKS

by Mark Woodard

Mark Woodard's Annotated Mathematical Bookmarks is a part of Topology Atlas. He has been kind enough to write a description of various parts of it and a guide to its use.

Annotated Mathematical Bookmarks.

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