[myg204]

Thanks for posting this. The mathematics involved is way above my head, but it's very pleasant to read about this group of mathematicians and particular time.

This sentence from Illusie says a lot: "The person who at the time could repair anything that went wrong was Deligne. ".

Also, this nod to Knuth is worth mentioning:

"Nowadays you have such efficient TEX systems, manuscripts look very nice. In Grothendieck’s time the presentation was not so beautiful, maybe, but Dieudonné-Grothendieck’s manuscripts were still fantastic."

The amount of time spent formatting papers at the time should have been better spent.

Also, Serre placing Weil higher than Grothendieck is interesting to read. I wonder if they all place Serre higher than anyone...

[effie]

It is a weird mode of thought we have, comparing humans on a one-dimensional scale and thus effectively devaluing them into numbers. What does that say about us? It may be useful to see such an expedient in articles on businessmen and their money, I suppose. But when one encounters it in publications on someone's contributions to knowledge and culture, it is out of place.

[auntienomen]

Arguing about whether Serre was a better mathematician than Grothendieck is a bit like arguing whether Thelonious Monk was a better musician than Duke Ellington...