Mathematical Mystery...

just a little bit of bizarreness to imbibe in…

Leila Schneps is in the news lately (including the prior post!) as she and her daughter actively promote their new book, "Math On Trial." It turns out that she is also active with 'The Grothendieck Circle,' a small group which focuses on the work of French mathematician Alexandre Grothendieck, as famous now for his reclusiveness and departure from mathematics (another genius mathematician who couldn't cope well with society), as for his advanced contributions to mathematics. And, it turns out that Schneps may have been one of the last mathematicians to have contact with Grothendieck before he went into seclusion.
Grothendieck's whereabouts have been a source of speculation over the years, and the following fascinating, almost cloak-and-dagger post tells a tale while hinting at some possibilities regarding the mystery:

http://matrix.cmi.ua.ac.be/g-spots-saint-girons

And the above post is just the latest in an interesting series by the blog writer on what he christens "G-Spots" (Grothendieck locations)... you can backtrack through them:

http://matrix.cmi.ua.ac.be/tag/grothendieck

(Fun reads... not exactly Agatha Christie, but about as good as it gets in mathematical mystery.)

Grothendieck's 85th birthday is coming this Thursday.