Chorus

Abstract

Our mammoth tale came to an end in characteristic vein, with Coriolis discussing education at the Ecole Polytechnique and disliking the current state of affairs. But more detailed reflections are required, and this chapter provides some of them. In tune with the story told, only a selection of items is covered. The usual order of topics is followed in the sections which follow. The next one deals with the social and careerist aspects of the lives of our savants, and also the institutions which formed them and were moulded by them in turn. Then §19.3 deals with them as a community: after a division into two groups, some remarks are made on certain individual careers, and also on its fringe members. Next, §19.4 deals with their intellectual achievements, both the broadening of calculus and mechanics into mathematical analysis and mathematical physics respectively, and also some of the philosophical features raised in §1.3: structure-similarity, the spectrum of applications, Denkweisen, and the epistemological status of theories. All of these matters have been discussed in earlier chapters: these sections serve as résumés, together with some additional general points.