E6: 1936-1938,
POST-DOCTORAL PERIOD AT THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY
The Pennsylvania Railroad was to see me from time to time in
these years. An overnight trip got me from Chicago to North Philadelphia. A
change of trains was needed to get to Princeton Junction, whence by a
three-mile shuttle trip I would arrive at Princeton. At Christmas the trip was
reversed; after the holidays the entire process would be repeated, and I would
be home for the summer after the second term.
In those days one shipped most belongings in a trunk; I
didn’t travel light. Although we were still poor, I learned that a trip by coach worth the small extra cost. I found the upper berth better than the lower. This
was the routine until I got a car in 1937.
On my first arrival at Princeton I was a bit [unprepared],
not having been able to make any contacts earlier. So I stayed one night at a
hotel in town (not the best, I learned later, but with space) and the next day
made my way to the IAS headquarters in “Fine Hall,” graduate mathematics
building of Princeton University. The two institutions were almost entirely
separate, but a close relationship existed between the two groups of personnel.
To help indentify the IAS, I quote here from the foreword The Institute for advanced study 1930 to
1954:
“The Institute . . . will permit.” – Robert Oppenheimer
(then Institute director) [It is apparent
that the intention was to reference this work to complete this quote, not
included in the manuscript.]
Initially, the IAS was intended solely [for] mathematics and
mathematical physics; later a few other fields were added.
On my first day I quickly made some acquaintances and
inquired as to how I might find a place to live. By luck I asked the right
person, Al Clifford who summoned another man Wallace Givens. They both were
renting rooms in a private residence where there was still one vacant room. It
took little time to make necessary arrangements, ending with my renting, for
$15 weekly, a small room; ideally located well away from the other four rooms
which were respectively occupied by Al, Wallace, a chemist Joe Hüstenfelder,
and the landlady Elizabeth Cleary, 60ish but vivacious and most pleasant. This
was to be my Princeton abode for the next three years. As it turned out, I
couldn’t have asked for a better “family.” And 43 Vandeventer was located only
three blocks from Fine Hall.
Roy in front of the Vandeventer residence, Princeton, New Jersey
I learned the ropes easily from my newly found friends.
There was an excellent French restaurant only a few blocks away. There one
could have three meals a day for one dollar! (I tried that arrangement briefly
but soon shifted to a dinner only plan – $.60 per day – since breakfast and
good light lunches could be had elsewhere.) There were teas daily (4:00 to 6:00
PM daily) for social and professional contacts, bridge playing, etc.[1]
Soon an appointment with the Institute director, Dr. Abraham
Flexner, was made for me. The main purpose was to tell me – and I remember his
exact words: “Here you have no duties only opportunities” – which I had already
surmised. And the opportunities were many indeed; there were six “professors”:
Oswald Veblen, John von Neumann, Marston Morse, Albert Einstein, James
Alexander, and Herman Weyl; in addition there were some members, including
professors on sabbatical leave known all over the US, and post-doctoral people
like me, and a few “assistants” to the professors. Everyone was free to conduct
lectures, a lecture series, seminars, gab fests, etc.; And everyone was free to
attend any of them as he chose, as well as similar offers by the Math
Department of Princeton University.
My first appointment was with Prof. Oswald Veblen, friend
and erstwhile colleague of my thesis advisor (Mr. Lane), and now the principal
professor in the School of Mathematics. He gave me the information I needed
concerning the way the Institute operated. For example, I learned that Fine
Hall was open to members 24 hours per day (each member having a key), and that
the library (all of the top floor of Fine Hall) was also open all the time. I
later realized that this library had as complete an advanced mathematics
collection as existed anywhere. It was effectively run strictly on the honor
system, with a top librarian to help find things if need be. It took me little
time to learn the details necessary for coping with a living and working
situation of a kind new to me. I had never been away from home and family
before, nor had I been in such a situation of complete self-management.
I took full advantage of the new opportunities by attending
lecture series in several subjects that I had never heard of. The mathematics
here was unbelievably far ahead of any I had met at the U of C and I was
beginning to realize that my graduate education there was far less than it
seemed and as it should have been. The reason I began to realize, was that most
of the U of C professors had been students of the professors of earlier times,
who had done pioneer work in their field, and that their students were engaged
in focusing on more or less routine extension of the earlier work. When my
thesis submitted earlier for publication was turned down on the grounds not
that it wasn’t good work, but that it was in a work “passé.” The full force of
the need to get myself into the modern mathematics world hit me. One of my
objectives, though, was to learn at least one field, new to me, adequately
enough to do acceptable research in it – no small task, but my start was
underway.
My career had so far exhibited fortuitous features; another
piece of good luck was about to occur. Professor von Neumann had a lecture
series I had attended in the first term. The Professor began a new series at
the start of the second term. As it happened, his assistant had got seriously
behind in his work and for some reason didn’t attend the first second-term
lecture. Von Neumann, noting this absence, asked if someone would be willing to
take notes. He seemed to be looking at me and I nodded: Von Neumann’s new
subject was “continuous geometry” of furthering of a brand new field of
mathematics lattice theory. Secretly I hoped that I would be continuing to
“pinch-hit,” so that I could grow easily in the new field which excited me
greatly. And this is just what did happen: the absent assistant had all he
could do to complete work on the notes of the first term!
Now Flexner’s promise seemed violated, for I did indeed have
duties! Typically my afternoon after a lecture was spent preparing “the notes,”
discussing them with von Neumann, and getting them to the secretary, who would
prepare the stencils the next morning. Then an afternoon (sometimes going into
the evening) I would process them and get them back to the secretary. By the
next day, the time of the next lecture, the pages were ready for distribution.
This task might have been less daunting had von Neumann been an ordinary
lecturer. But his speed was about three times great as the one lecture, and the
size of the notes reflected that. I was now performing the exact functions of
an assistant (without pay for it, of course).
With these duties, I had gained untold opportunities. In
order to get to the point of doing research in any established field, even in a
small one, one mainly has to gain considerable background – to learn what has
been done already. But when one enters a fledgling field as lattice theory was
then, there is precious little by way of background to research. And one has
the advantage of participating in the building of the foundations of the
subject, almost from the start.
As the end of the first year near, a decision as to the
following year had to be made. But before I even inquired about a shift in role
from member to von Neumann’s assistant, I was told by Veblen in that, at von
Neumann’s request, I would be so named. The lecture series carried out with term
ending could go on for at least another year. (I had an offer of an
instructorship at UCLA, but had turned it down, feeling that I needed more of
the post-doctoral work that I was doing before entering teaching.) Now I would
have a salary of $1500 per year. Actually, I remained as von Neumann’s
assistant for an additional year, since he had, by that time, done enough
research to present a further year of lectures. As it happened, my duties in
that last year were lessened, since for some reason von Neumann felt that his
approach in the final year’s development wasn’t the best possible and he
therefore did not want notes prepared and distributed. (I took them anyway, but
did not [type] them up, on the chance that he would change his mind! He did
not.)
By my second year at the IAS I reduced attendance at
seminars, etc. so that I could give thought to research areas. During that year
and the following I was able to work on and complete two definitive papers (one
with a coauthor, Malcolm Riley,[2]
an old friend from the U of C who had got his degree two years after I had),
later published; and I began work on a third paper, also ultimately published.
During my last year at the IAS I had two job nibbles, the
first from the University of Cincinnati and a later one from the University of
Wisconsin. The first resulted in a sort of offer after I had visited Cincinnati
during the winter break but it never became definite. I had little enthusiasm
for the location and didn’t pursue the matter. When Prof. Cyrus MacDuffee from
the University of Wisconsin at Madison [result of an IAS project] approached me
with a definite offer, it didn’t take me long to decide to accept. I would be
an instructor at $2200 per year.
Very few “eligible” young ladies were left in Princeton. The
school was then for males only, and there were very few females at the IAS. The
town “girls” were maiden ladies left over after the graduating seniors from the
University had carried off the cream. There were occasional dances (one per
year hosted by Dr. Flexner); for dates to these I made do with the maiden
ladies available. Some members at the IAS had wives and had brought them to
Princeton. These were evenings with some of these couples. At 43 Vandeventer we
roomers sometimes had parties inviting town girls. But most of the social life
was in the form of gab fests, games (e.g., Go, Canasta, Bridge) among single
males. The exception occurred during my second year, when I somehow got
acquainted with a nursing student in Philadelphia. (She was related to some
people I knew in Princeton.) There were a few dates with her and after a period
of inactivity I learned that she had married.
It was some consolation that Princeton was place of many
musical events. There were organ concerts by famous organist at the chapel; and
there was a fair amount of chamber music on the campus. (Einstein usually
attended and always congratulated the performers afterward.) A few other
musical matters are dealt with in F 1. Unfortunately I was able to get to New
York or Philadelphia [only] occasionally, to hear their reputation-great symphony
orchestras.
Once during my first IAS year at the spring break I went to
Boston (train to New York, boat to Boston) to visit with Mort Mergentheim, now
at Harvard Law school, during our spring break. And during my second and third
years I took weekend trips to northern New Jersey where my old friend Clarence
Baerveldt was living and preparing for the Presbyterian ministry. I hadn’t made
those trips (by railroad) more than a few times when Clarence suggested that I
get a (used) car. In fact, he took me to a dealer in East Orange; I bought a
1933 Pontiac four-door sedan for $365 (the only car I ever bought on time).
I
secured a New Jersey driver’s license (Illinois still didn’t require one).
Thenceforth I had better control over my transportation. I could now enjoy more
local attractions than I could earlier. Thus I could get over to Asbury Park, a
delightful town on the coast, and could try a variety of seafood restaurants in
the Princeton area. (It was at this time that I enjoyed my first experience
with oysters, clams, crabs, etc.)
My years at Princeton added up to nothing short of a
wonderful experience. I grew professionally, became weaned from my family, and
learned the art of “personal administration.” A typical workday, when I became
an Assistant, went something like this:
12
noon or so: Arise, get a
brunch
1 – 2
PM: Attend a
lecture or seminar (not all were where I had duties!)
2 – 4
PM: Play tennis
or squash with a colleague[3]
4 – 8
PM: Tea, plus a
long bridge game
8 – 9
PM: Dinner at
Lakiere’s[?]
9 PM
– 12 AM: Late movie
12 –
1 AM: Game
(usually with Al Clifford) at 43 Vandeventer
1 – 5
or 6 AM: Work on my
research
The schedule was of course different on von Neumann’s
lecture days, with the 2 to 4 and 9 to 12 periods devoted to work on lecture
notes. As can be seen from the table, I had become fed up with the U of C early
morning schedules and chucked them as soon as I could; I became and remained a
“late” person. The main advantage to working through the wee hours was that
there were then no distractions. More on this in section F2.
(One word about bridge, etc. while as a grad student at the
U of C, I noted that some of my fellows’ students played bridge incessantly –
to the point of addiction. So I steered clear of the game. At least one very
capable but addicted student I knew substituted bridge for studying and never
got his degree. But at the IAS I got interested in the game and found it
possible to work it in without damaging my professional life. After leaving the
IAS I played only rarely; usually people who played didn’t do so very
seriously, and I wasn’t accustomed to that. While I always enjoyed games of
skill, e.g., chess, Bridge, billiards, they never played a major role in my
life.)
Summers during this period were by no means wasted: they
supplemented the important active things at Princeton. I lived at my Wilmette
home, of course, but spent weekdays at the U of C, where office facilities were
available for visiting mathematicians. I was surprised to find a number of my
IAS colleagues there too, taking advantage of the U of C hospitality – one of
our group, a Princeton University professor, was teaching at Northwestern
during the summer and rooming in Wilmette. Since he joined the group at the U
of C, I got a ride home, since he had a car. The U of C gave us privileges at
the Quadrangle (faculty) club, with facilities for tennis, billiards, and
meals. All in all this was a most enjoyable summer.
The second summer (of 1937) was much like the first, except
that I had a visiting instructorship at the U of C; many of the old group were
there again.
Roy, his mother Pauline (in car), and the 1933 Pontiac; ca 1937, Wilmette, Illinois
The course that I taught was along the lines of my new lattice
theory interest; one of my students became so interested he asked me to become
his Master’s thesis advisor. I readily gave him a Master’s level problem and
started him off. After I left, he continued his work under Mr. Barnard[?] and,
I understood, later got the degree. Another experience was to be appointed to
the PhD final oral examination committee for my old friend Malcolm Smiley who
had now completed his work toward the PhD. He passed, of course, and turned up
at the IAS in the fall! In fact, a room at my rooming house became available
and he moved in. That year we developed and wrote our joint paper.
When these years were over, I had about finished my “growing
up” period; I had positioned myself well for future research work, and a proper
University teaching career seemed assured. I had also grown up politically.
Wilmette was my official residence, and so I voted absentee in the 1936
Presidential election – for Roosevelt (and I voted for the same candidate three
more times). My Pontiac was still running well; I maintained the New Jersey
registration until I got to Madison. The summer of 1938 passed uneventfully,
except that I again frequented the U of C and [commentary ends here].*
[1] At
the IAS the custom was to use appropriate titles – Professor, Doctor, etc. as
appropriate.
[2]
Malcolm eventually became a professor at …?… where he stayed until …?… was too
much. His career ended at SUNY. (He died a few years ago.)
[3]
Shortly after arriving at Princeton I asked the gymnasium management for
privileges at the gym – locker, towels, free use of facilities, etc. They
hadn't heard of the IAS, but heard my request and decided to extend a special
reduced rate privileges not only to me but for all IAS personnel. I was thanked
by many for my action.
* Not
included here but most likely the process during the Princeton years, during
the summer, after Roy got a car: his Sundays were spent taking his parents to
church, then his father to the Cook County Jail to play music for and preach to
the inmates and taking his mother to the Foster Park German Baptist Church on
Paulina, later picking up his father from the train and driving him to the home
of a German Church parishioner to join his wife for dinner at that location.
(This according to oral interviews by the transcriptionist with Roy Wilcox in
ca. 1979 and 1997-99.)
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