/sci/ - Science & Math

>I am devastated by the news that Bill Lawvere passed away yesterday. Truly, we have lost one of the giants of our subject. I imagine everyone on this list will have their own special memories of him; here are a few of mine.

>It was fifty years ago this month that I first corresponded with Bill, sending him the first draft of my paper `The associated sheaf functor in an elementary topos' (which he accepted for publication in JPAA). I still have the reply he sent me: re-reading it brought tears to my eyes as I remembered the very considerable trouble he had taken to help and encourage a young author who was then totally unknown to him, by giving me excellent advice on how to sharpen the presentation of the paper.

>We met a few months later, at the Aarhus Open House in May 1973; it was there that I aroused Bill's anger by presuming to give a talk about John Conway's theory of numbers and games, which Bill thought (wrongly) to be antithetical to his very strong political views. But the storm passed, and Bill remained a staunch supporter of my work (though I could always rely on him for frank criticism of any imperfections in it).

>When, in September 2004, Jiri Adamek suggested to a group of senior category-theorists that there was a need for a `steering committee' to ensure the continued smooth running of international CT conferences, there was lengthy discussion about almost every aspect of his proposal; but one thing which nobody queried was his suggestion that Bill should be invited to chair the committee. Happily, Bill accepted the invitation (on condition that I should agree to be the secretary), and he provided us with wise and thoughtful guidance until he stepped down in 2010.