The only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote? - MathOverflow

The only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote?

2010-08-03T02:33:57Z

OK, the title is opinionated and contentious, but I have a definite question. I know that the title refers to the Bourbaki volume Groupes et Algèbres de Lie (Chapters 4-6), published in 1968, but

who said that it is the only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote?

The only reference I can find is the 2009 Prize Booklet for the AMS-MAA Joint Meetings, where no source is given, but I'm sure I've seen the claim somewhere else.

Edit. I have rolled back the title of this question to almost its original form, because putting the title in quotes misled some people into thinking I sought a source for the exact phrase "the only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote." Rather, I wanted a source (not necessarily unique) for the idea that Chapters 4-6 of Groupes et Algèbres de Lie is Bourbaki's one great book. Gerald's answer and Jim's comment together are exactly what I wanted.

Answer by Wadim Zudilin for The only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote?

2010-08-03T07:06:12Z

It might be difficult to find the appearance of "the only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote" about Chapters 4-6 of Groupes et Algèbres de Lie. But another Bourbaki book Theory of Sets has the review "Euclid in the XX century" by Guilherme (São Paulo, SP, Brasil) on amazon.com:

Theory of Sets is the first book of the treatise, that counts ten books to this date and provides the safe foundation on which the whole stuff rests. But it can---and probably must---be read independently of the mysticism involving the treatise, and in my opinion is the best book ever written on the subject, showing what it is all about.

Of course, this might be an example of plagiarism... In any case, I see no reason to believe that reviews like this (or the unknown one from the OP) can be of real importance to mathematicians. What will be changed in your understanding of mathematics/Lie groups and algebras when you know the author of such a personal opinion?

I leave this as community wiki, since as I've mentioned above there is no reason to (l)earn something from such Q&As.

Answer by Gerald Edgar for The only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote?

2010-08-03T09:39:25Z

Google found this:
Notices of the AMS, September 1998, p. 979:
Bill Casselman's review of POLYHEDRA by Cromwell,
we find the phrase "the one great book by Bourbaki"

Answer by Alexandre Eremenko for The only great book that Bourbaki ever wrote?

2012-12-15T17:15:43Z

I've heard this sentence (almost literally, if I remember correctly) in 1980 from Vladimir Drinfeld. He added: his other books you buy and put on the shelf. This one you can really use.