Happy Birthday
Tomorrow is the birthday of Saunders Mac
Lane!
Born: August
4,
1909 in Taftville, Connecticut
Died: April 14, 2005 in San Francisco, California
Saunders Mac Lane of the University of
Chicago is recognized as one of the most important mathematicians of
the mid-twentieth century. He is often remembered for his
publications in the 1960s that created, along with the work of Sammy
Eilenberg, the
new field of Category Theory.
To mention only his mathematics is a mistake when describing Mac Lane. He was an imposing, tenancious, outgoing leader. He was physically large, radiating confidence. His talks at AMS-MAA sessions were heavily attended. Moreover, he was a force to be reckoned with, especially when he opposed public policy.
 "As he used to say at the time of someone's passing - 'Hail and Farewell'." |
John MacDonald in remembering his thesis advisor, mentor and lifetime friend.
. . . from Focus,
August, 2005, p. 4 .