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  • Altgeld Hall: The lost office of Dr. N. Bourbaki

    Oct 28, 2021 11:00 am by Dave Evensen
    The association of collaborators of Nicolas Bourbaki, a collective pseudonym, in France in 1938. An office for the fictitious mathematician appeared in Altgeld Hall in 1955. (Public domain image).

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    • The association of collaborators of Nicolas Bourbaki, a collective pseudonym, in France in 1938. An office for the fictitious mathematician appeared in Altgeld Hall in 1955. (Public domain image).

    A prank in the 50s is still talked about today. When it mysteriously appeared in 1955, the office was equipped with a rickety table, chair, quill pen, candle, an empty Chianti bottle, and a sign reading, 'Dr. Bourbaki.'