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Peva Blanchard (Jul 31 2024 at 16:09):Does anyone know and recommend a good biography of Grothendieck?
(By good, I mean a biography that avoids the "crazy lone genius" tropism. )
Julius Hamilton (Jul 31 2024 at 16:44):https://webusers.imj-prg.fr/~leila.schneps/grothendieckcircle/biographic.php
Joshua Meyers (Jul 31 2024 at 17:17):On that page I really recommend
Comme Appelé du Néant -- As If Summoned From the Void (Part I) (Part II) A very interesting two-part article by Allyn Jackson, from the Notices of the AMS (Part I is in Vol 51, No. 4, Part II is in Vol 51, No. 10), full of anecdotes about Grothendieck's youth and professional life.
John Baez (Jul 31 2024 at 18:36):I highly recommend the 2-part article Joshua just recommended.
Peva Blanchard (Jul 31 2024 at 21:34):Great, thank you!
David Michael Roberts (Aug 01 2024 at 00:15):Scharlau's books are good, I think. You can get the first one 'Anarchy' here as a pdf, and the individual chapters of the other one 'Spirituality' on this page. These go with with the middle volume, by Leila Schneps 'Mathematics' (four chapters available here). The first volume is mostly about Grothendieck's parents and his childhood, the last volume is about his post-IHÉS life, up to the 1991 disappearance. (These are all at the page Julius linked)
I just discovered that Scharlau died in late 2020, so I don't know what happened to what I thought was a planned fourth volume...