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(Edited in accordance with suggestions in comments.)

I remember once I read a quote that sounded like "graph theory is the scum of topology" (please approximate). I can not find it on the web, and I can not remember who said this. Or did I dream it after a heavy meal?

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    $\begingroup$ It was Henry Whitehead, and he said slums not scum. See e.g. the first sentence in arxiv.org/pdf/1111.4050.pdf. $\endgroup$
    – Sam Hopkins
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 0:17
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    $\begingroup$ I just want to mention that I am sure the OP is not in any way trying to disparage graph theory, since (his or) her web page indicates (he or) she has done research in graph theory. No doubt the question is meant only to track down an elusive memory that was nagging at (him or) her. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Trimble
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 2:26
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    $\begingroup$ When I was working on my dissertation, I heard that "Cyclotomy is the bargain basement of Algebraic Number Theory." $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 4:32
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    $\begingroup$ User "Conder" attempted the following edit: Due to restrictions I cannot comment, and the question has been made unanswerable by voteing, so my sole choice is editing. The book Chromatic Graph Theory, says, page 19 quotes John Henry Constantine Whitehead (1904-1960), one of the founders of homotopy theory, reportedly said that "Combinatorics is the slums of topology". It then juxtaposes a quote from Gelfand. Given the already large number of remembrances of whatever Whitehead said, my guess is that there is no actual citation. $\endgroup$
    – S. Carnahan ♦
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 5:53
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    $\begingroup$ This is a straightforward reference request with an accepted answer. I vote to reopen. $\endgroup$
    – Tom LaGatta
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 16:02

2 Answers 2

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Graph theory is the slum of topology...

You may have read it in the first paragraph of the very first opinion of Prof. Zeilberger:

Topology: The slum of combinatorics OR "Don't show off too much, your specialty will soon be trivialized"

He attributes it therein to a certain Whitehead too (but it is not clear from his text to which Whitehead he is referring).

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I was told, fairly authoritatively, that it was Hassler Whitney who said "Graph theory is the slums of topology". Whitney, unlike Whitehead, was an important graph theorist before he was a topologist. At that time graph theory was considered a part of topology.

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    $\begingroup$ This is interesting (and plausible), but can you say more about the authority that you heard this from? $\endgroup$
    – Sam Hopkins
    Commented Sep 21, 2023 at 23:47
  • $\begingroup$ I heard this from Neil Robertson. I am sure he said Whitney, but it's just possible I've forgotten. I immediately said that signed graph theory is the slums of graph theory. Later I said that topological signed graph theory is the slums of signed graph theory -- and you can quote me. $\endgroup$
    – Thomas Zaslavsky
    Commented Sep 23, 2023 at 1:15

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