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fosco (Feb 13 2021 at 17:21):The question is all in the title: are there one or more videos on the history of category theory, possibly told by someone who "was there" right after the first era?
Note that I'm not asking about books on the history of CT, because I already know there are some.
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 17:27):There's this nice little story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXUfABbaOGc
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:32):For people tired of clicking links, this is "Bill Lawvere on the history of adjoint functors".
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:33):It's the only YouTube video with likes but no dislikes.
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:40):This video was put on YouTube by the well-known category theorist Bob Walters in 2011, and it says
This is part of lectures given by Bill in Como on 10th January 2008. I intend to put most of his lectures here on YouTube.
Bob Walters died in January 2015. But I see he did put a lot of these lectures on YouTube.
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 17:41):
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 17:41):Also has some other tidbits on the history of topos theory.
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:43):Neat!
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 17:45):Its mostly on axiomatic cohesion and the accompanying notes aren't bad too
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:47):When I attended Lawvere's lecture series in Florence - I guess for his 60th birthday? - I found it a lot easier to absorb his thoughts than from reading his papers. Maybe it's just because I just had to sit there for 4 hours and think about what he was saying. But maybe because he simplifies things when he's talking.
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:49):So I bet all these videos could be worth watching.
Morgan Rogers (he/him) (Feb 13 2021 at 17:49):Shame about the sound quality...
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 17:54):Yeah, it's sad how people take math so unseriously that there aren't well-produced videos of most famous mathematicians (since 1950, for example) explaining their work.
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:02):With the recent advent of online seminars and lectures, I think that problem won't last much longer
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:03):But it's definitely a shame retrospectively
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:05):Responding to the original question, this isn't on CT but there's this amazing lecture by Dieudonné on the historical development of AG.
fosco (Feb 13 2021 at 18:06):very, very neat
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:07):Which also has an accompanying paper and transcription
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:09):Colin McLarty also has a few lectures on the history of CT which you can find on youtube
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:10):
Fawzi Hreiki (Feb 13 2021 at 18:12):And this on Saunders Mac Lane's philosophy of mathematics.
John Baez (Feb 13 2021 at 18:19):I enjoyed this a lot - not a video:
This has recently become harder to get for free, so nab a copy here!
Todd Trimble (Feb 13 2021 at 18:29):John Baez said:
When I attended Lawvere's lecture series in Florence - I guess for his 60th birthday? - I found it a lot easier to absorb his thoughts than from reading his papers. Maybe it's just because I just had to sit there for 4 hours and think about what he was saying. But maybe because he simplifies things when he's talking.
He was born in '37, and the 60th birthday conference was in Montreal. I don't believe you were there.
José Siqueira (Feb 20 2021 at 10:57):John Baez said:
I enjoyed this a lot - not a video:
- Colin McLarty, The uses and abuses of the history of topos theory.
This has recently become harder to get for free, so nab a copy here!
That's a very fun read :)
John Baez (Feb 20 2021 at 17:20):Great! One reason it's fun is that McLarty has a sense of humor.