Groups

Begin Excerpts of Am. Math. Monthly, Nov. 1973

...
The floodgates were opened! New groups were the rage!
(And twelve or more sprouted, to greet the new age.)
By Janko and Conway and Fisher and Held
MaLaughlin, Suzuki, and Higman, and Sims

No doubt you noted the last lines don't rhyme.
Well, that is, quite simply, a sign of the time.
There's chaos, not order, among simple groups;
And maybe we'd better go back to the loops.

Finding all groups that are simple is not a simple task!

...
Some details were dramatic, like the Monster of Griess.
A sporadic group that'll make you look twice.
In fact it's so big that it's given wide berth.
Its order is greater than the atoms of Earth.

When the battles were over, the War came to an end.
Commander-in-Chief Gorenstein, an anouncement did send.
We've found all finite simple groups, we sure earned our wages.
The proof that it's true is some 10,000 pages.

Finding all groups that are simple is finished at last!

End Excerpts


Ah, good old group theory, me misses you....
waterloo, me misses you...
home, me misses you...
cskids, me misses you...
renison gang, me misses you...
montreal v-team, me misses you...