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[[File:Dror-Bar-Natan-Eric-Weinstein-Raoul-Bott.jpg|thumb|Dror Bar-Natan, Eric Weinstein, and Raoul Bott]]
 
Raoul Bott, the renowned Hungarian-American mathematician, holds a special place in the reflections and tributes of Eric Weinstein, as captured in various podcast appearances and social media posts. Weinstein portrays Bott not only as a towering figure in topology and geometry but also as a personal hero who played a pivotal role in his academic journey. Through these accounts, Bott emerges as a mentor, savior, and intellectual giant whose discoveries and kindness left an indelible mark.
 
== Bott as a Mathematical Luminary ==
 
Weinstein frequently highlights Bott's groundbreaking work, particularly Bott Periodicity, which he describes as one of the most important mathematical discoveries of the 20th century. In a 2024 appearance on the Modern Wisdom podcast, Weinstein explains it as an "incredible fact" involving four number systems with eightfold symmetry, likening it to "graffiti from a higher mind" that forms the foundation of understanding the world. Earlier tweets from 2009 delve into technical aspects, exploring how Bott Periodicity relates to tensor operations among non-octal division algebras, octonions (referred to as Cayleys), exceptional Lie groups like F4 and E6-8, and elliptic cohomology as a potential k-theoretic refinement requiring extensions via exceptionals. These posts pose questions about large exceptional Lie groups and geometric models of elliptic cohomology theories, underscoring Bott's influence on advanced mathematical concepts.
 
Bott's colleagues and collaborators also feature prominently. Weinstein notes Bott's close associations with figures like [[Michael Atiyah]] and [[Isadore Singer]], comparing Bott and Atiyah to the "Watson and Crick of mathematics" for their transformative impact. In a 2019 thread mourning Atiyah's death, Weinstein discusses their shared work on vector bundles, quantum field theory, and influences on physicists like [[Ed Witten]] and Graeme Segal. He clarifies that while Bott and Singer worked in similar areas—both claiming the "greatest topological theorem" of the century—they never co-authored papers despite living in adjacent ZIP codes (02138 and 02139).
 
Weinstein ranks Bott among the most enduring minds, alongside [[Isadore Singer|Is Singer]] and [[Jim Watson|James Watson]], as figures whose contributions will likely be discussed in 1000 years.
 
== Personal Influence and Gratitude ==
 
Beyond mathematics, Weinstein's accounts reveal a deeply personal connection. In multiple reflections, including a 2020 Lex Fridman Podcast episode, he describes himself as a self-advised PhD student whose thesis required formal approval. Bott, as a Harvard professor, "lent his name" as advisor—acting like a "mensch lends a surname to a bastard"—to help Weinstein navigate institutional barriers. This act, alongside support from Dror Bar-Natan, is credited with "heroically saving" Weinstein's PhD from his own university 20 years prior. Weinstein critiques academic systems, such as the Math Genealogy Project and h-index metrics, for failing to accurately portray outliers like himself.
 
In a 2016 thread, Weinstein expresses sadness over lacking a traditional mathematical lineage, admitting he delayed thanking Bott and Bar-Natan due to viewing his need for a PhD as a personal weakness. By 2020, he publicly grapples with resentment toward his "rescuers," regretting not inviting Bott to his wedding and wrestling with whether to share his full story. A 2021 thread tributing Singer upon his death intertwines the two mathematicians, portraying them as part of an "underground railroad" that rescued Weinstein when the system failed. Weinstein recounts walking between their offices at MIT and Harvard, and notes a New York Times obituary for Singer that included his quotes.
 
== Quotes ==
 
<blockquote>
''Like, for example, I don't have an advisor for my PhD, but I have to have an advisor as far as something called the Math Genealogy project that tracks who advised whom, down the line. So I am my own advisor, which sets up a loop, right? How many students do I have? An infinite number—or descendants. They don't want to have that story. So I have to be—to have "formal advisor [[Raoul Bott]]". And my Wikipedia entry, for example, says that I was advised by [[Raoul Bott]], which is not true. So you get fit into a system that says, Well, we have to know what your h-index is, we have to know, you know, where are you a professor, if you want to apply for a grant. It makes all of these assumptions. What I'm trying to do is to, in part, to show all of this is nonsense. This is proxy BS that came up in the institutional setting.''
 
- '''Eric Weinstein''', April 13, 2020, on [[Eric Weinstein: Geometric Unity and the Call for New Ideas, Leaders & Institutions (YouTube Content)|The Lex Fridman Podcast]]
</blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
''Man, great stuff happens at Harvard. Make no mistake about it. Harvard is an amazing and horrible place. And we're going to all now focus on how dumb it is and how horrible it is. And like then you're not seeing the tragedy, you're not seeing—look, I didn't have an advisor. I am one of the only people you'll ever meet with the PhD that had no advisor. But the guy who saved me was named [[Raoul Bott]]. And [[Raoul Bott]] discovered something that's so important called [[Raoul Bott|Bott Periodicity]] that, if I could convey it to you, your mind would be—you'd think DMT was for children. It has to do with the fact that there are only four systems of numbers that have a particular property, and one of those sets of numbers spins a merry-go-round with the other three with an eightfold sort of symmetry. Who knew that this thing was even possible? It's just it's an incredible fact about the world. I associate him with Harvard. That's unfudgable. There's no—There's no one in the world who can tell me that [[Raoul Bott|Bott Periodicity]] wasn't one of the most important things that happened in the 20th century. And to have a person like that, you know, just feet from John Tate. I could go on and on about all the real things that happened in Harvard.''
 
- '''Eric Weinstein''', February 19, 2024, on [[Why Does The Modern World Make No Sense? (YouTube Content)|Modern Wisdom 747 | Why Does The Modern World Make No Sense?]]
</blockquote>
 
 
== On X ==
=== 2009 ===
 
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/3444659121
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=An issue would then be whether Elliptic cohomology is a k-theoretic refinement requiring an extension of tensor products using exceptionals.
|thread=
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/3441646817
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=What is known about the large exceptional Lie groups and geometric models of various elliptic cohomology theories?
|timestamp=2:48 AM · Aug 21, 2009
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/3444564843
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=One way of looking at [[Raoul Bott|Bott Periodicity]] is that tensor operations between non-octal division algebras close leaving Cayleys as a remainder.
|timestamp=5:52 AM · Aug 21, 2009
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/3444590487
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Then the issue becomes "can we do anything with tensor products involving Octonians?" which seems to be the Raison d'ĂȘtre for F4, E6-8.
|timestamp=5:54 AM · Aug 21, 2009
}}
|timestamp=6:00 AM · Aug 21, 2009
}}
 
=== 2016 ===
 
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/769564452941246464
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=So let me finally say it: my thanks 2 @drorbarnatan &amp; the late [[Raoul Bott]], for heroically saving me &amp; my PhD from my own university 20y ago.
|thread=
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/769554549916839936
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=I read about great mathematical lineages &amp; get sad. I don't know other selfadvised PhDs. Something wants to belong.
 
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2016.20491#/b1
|timestamp=3:17 PM · Aug 27, 2016
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/769556322215800832
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=The great [[Harvard]] mathematician [[Raoul Bott]] lent me his name as advisor as a mensch lends a surname to a bastard. I didn't know 2 say thanks.
|timestamp=3:24 PM · Aug 27, 2016
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/769561474280804352
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Because I view my needing a PhD as a sign of my own weakness, I have not yet been able to say "Thank You" to the 2 brave men who stood 4 me.
|timestamp=3:45 PM · Aug 27, 2016
}}
|timestamp=3:57 PM · Aug 27, 2016
}}
 
=== 2019 ===
 
{{Tweet
|image=SheerPriya-profile-wHkPqHYU.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/SheerPriya/status/1084147220281217024
|name=Priyamvada Natarajan
|usernameurl=https://x.com/SheerPriya
|username=SheerPriya
|content=More recently we talked about dark matter and black holes (2 yrs ago now) he was very excited about astro... b4 when i was a student he was just very encouraging and warm
|thread=
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084114873376591874
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=One of the world’s greatest men has died. Most of you will have no idea who this is. I just don’t know how to bridge that gap yet to tell you what he did.
 
I was very close with his top collaborator. They were the [[Jim Watson|Watson]] and [[Francis Crick|Crick]] of mathematics to me. They rewrote my whole life.
|quote=
{{Tweet
|image=royalsociety-profile-9IULx885.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/royalsociety/status/1083772505934970881
|name=The Royal Society
|usernameurl=https://x.com/royalsociety
|username=royalsociety
|content=[[Michael Atiyah|Michael Atiyah OM FRS]], President of the Royal Society 1990 -1995, died today. He was "a wonderful person who was a true internationalist and a fervent supporter for investing in talent – themes which resonate very clearly today." Read the full tribute https://royalsociety.org/news/2019/01/tribute-to-former-president-of-the-royal-society-sir-michael-atiyah/
|media1=royalsociety-X-post-1083772505934970881-DwpTCTzW0AEJifI.jpg
|timestamp=3:48 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
|timestamp=3:48 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084127025521033226
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=There is a little known stone wall on Long Island. While flawed, it is a gift to all mankind that should be a pilgrimage site, as an understanding of the contents is nesessary to understand our world. Think of it as transcendent graffiti. [[Michael Atiyah|Atiyah‘s]] spray-paint is everywhere here.
|timestamp=4:36 PM · Jan 12, 2019
|media1=ERW-X-post-1084127025521033226-DwuXvoOUUAA_X-J.jpg
|media2=ERW-X-post-1084127025521033226-DwuXvoPUwAEX3Ly.jpg
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{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084132802721804288
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Imagine watery planets with holes and twists. Knotted donut planets  called base spaces. Crazy oceans called “Vector bundles” and “Principal bundles”.
 
He told us about how the twists and holes determine what waves must live on them and which cannot.
 
{{#widget:YouTube|id=rNyngHqnwxE}}
|timestamp=4:59 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084133772033810437
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=He helped direct [[Ed Witten]] and Graeme Segal to truly tell us what [[Quantum Field Theory]] really was beyond being a physical theory. These men took a grab bag of techniques developed for calculation and showed us that they were a mellifluous whole of geometry, topology and physics.
|timestamp=5:03 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084134696127160321
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=If you want to know why I am so passionate about resisting the reign of terror against true scholarship it is this. Universities housed REAL scholarship beyond your wildest dreams. This kind of scholarship is not socially constructed. Almost no one can even do this level of work.
|timestamp=5:07 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Default_profile_400x400.png
|nameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps/status/1084127799437230080
|name=Laurens Gunnarsen
|usernameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps
|username=MathPrinceps
|content=I completely agree with your assessment of the magnitude of the world's loss here.  But who, in your view, was [[Michael Atiyah|Atiyah's]] "top collaborator"? Bott, perhaps? Singer? Someone else? He shared credit with a large number of co-workers in his published work. (I'd vote for Bott, myself.)
|timestamp=4:39 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084129282887045121
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=@MathPrinceps I knew [[Raoul Bott|Bott]] and [[Isadore Singer|Singer]] very well, but it was still not even close to me. I won’t say more here just now. You will also notice that Bott and Singer never collaborated despite being one zip code away from each other in Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge MA. Towering giants all.
|timestamp=4:45 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Default_profile_400x400.png
|nameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps/status/1084129513133432832
|name=Laurens Gunnarsen
|usernameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps
|username=MathPrinceps
|content=I knew Bott and Singer pretty well myself, and I agree that it's not even close.
|timestamp=4:39 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084135908989784064
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=What a lunch we could have. Would love to hear your perspective.
|timestamp=5:11 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Default_profile_400x400.png
|nameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps/status/1084136705089712128
|name=Laurens Gunnarsen
|usernameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps
|username=MathPrinceps
|content=They were such extraordinary persons, and their influence on me was exceeded only by that of Chern. I miss them all more than I can say. And perhaps we should indeed have lunch. Pretty sure we'd both enjoy it.
|timestamp=5:15 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084139307034542080
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Are you anywhere near SF? I gotta hear your argument for [[Michael Atiyah|Atiyah]] [[Raoul Bott|Bott]]. The main flaw on that wall IMO is the absence of [[Raoul Bott|Bott Periodicity]]. Other issues: Tits Freudenthal, the main Elliptic Deformation Complexes,  Hopf Fibration, etc..
 
But Bott Periodicity is beyond mind blowing.
|timestamp=5:25 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Default_profile_400x400.png
|nameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps/status/1084140379195113472
|name=Laurens Gunnarsen
|usernameurl=https://x.com/MathPrinceps
|username=MathPrinceps
|content=Yes, I reside in Mountain View, and get up to SF with some frequency. And I don't mean to make an argument for Atiyah-Bott, exactly; it's more of a feeling, born mostly of personal observation, that Atiyah-Bott had a much deeper aesthetic affinity than did Atiyah-Singer (say.)
|timestamp=5:29 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084129583610253313
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=@BraneRunner @MathPrinceps Some would put it higher.
|timestamp=4:46 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084133772033810437
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=He helped direct [[Ed Witten]] and Graeme Segal to truly tell us what [[Quantum Field Theory]] really was beyond being a physical theory. These men took a grab bag of techniques developed for calculation and showed us that they were a mellifluous whole of geometry, topology and physics.
|timestamp=5:03 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084134696127160321
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=If you want to know why I am so passionate about resisting the reign of terror against true scholarship it is this. Universities housed REAL scholarship beyond your wildest dreams. This kind of scholarship is not socially constructed. Almost no one can even do this level of work.
|timestamp=5:07 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084139921558855685
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=@vanest SUNY Stony Brook, Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. It’s blocked partially by a staircase now.
|timestamp=5:27 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=SheerPriya-profile-wHkPqHYU.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/SheerPriya/status/1084144900315275265
|name=Priyamvada Natarajan
|usernameurl=https://x.com/SheerPriya
|username=SheerPriya
|content=Very sad news indeed - I knew Michael from when I was at @TrinCollCam he was brilliant, warm & amazing. Was at a conference where he was supposed to speak on thursday #higgscentre - he cancelled at the last minute....
|timestamp=5:47 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1084146455093248000
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Wow. Did you guys ever talk shop? I have to admit I didn’t always get the most out of him 1 on 1. [[Isadore Singer|Singer]] and [[Raoul Bott|Bott]] were much clearer. [[Michael Atiyah|Atiyah]] and [[Ed Witten|Witten]] tended to tell you something related to whatever you asked but often not in a dialogue. More like a juke box of answers.
|timestamp=5:53 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
|timestamp=5:56 PM · Jan 12, 2019
}}
 
=== 2020 ===


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=== 2021 ===


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|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
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|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=They worked down the same street. I was at times a ping pong ball they sent back &amp; forth between Building 2 at MIT &amp; Harvard Science Center rm 508 (I think) along a 45 minute walk. I very much respected that they chose not to air any difficulties. They had respect for each other.
|content=They worked down the same street. I was at times a ping pong ball they sent back &amp; forth between Building 2 at MIT &amp; [[Harvard|Harvard Science Center rm 508]] (I think) along a 45 minute walk. I very much respected that they chose not to air any difficulties. They had respect for each other.
|timestamp=10:11 PM · Feb 19, 2021
|timestamp=10:11 PM · Feb 19, 2021
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=== 2022 ===
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1608275219281502210
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=@anisomorphism @Javlaskitstovel Sure it starts with [[Raoul Bott|Bott]] &amp; Tu. With a little May. Before you know it? You’re. hitting the harder stuff. Hartshorne leads to EGA &amp; SGA. Next? They find you in a gutter, begging to do even just a little of Jackson’s E&amp;M to make the withdrawal symptoms go away.
Even for a moment

|thread=
{{Tweet
|image=anisomorphism-profile--TnQqoqc.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/anisomorphism/status/1608269790535376896
|name=anisomorphism
|usernameurl=https://x.com/anisomorphism
|username=anisomorphism
|content=I'd substitute with [[Raoul Bott|Bott]] and Tu or May
|timestamp=1:12 AM · Dec 29, 2022
}}
|timestamp=1:34 AM · Dec 29, 2022
}}
== Related Pages ==
* [[Isadore Singer]]
* [[Jim Watson]]
* [[Michael Atiyah]]
* [[Harvard]]


[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Mathematics]]
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