Many years ago, in the course of the oral examination of my doctoral degree, a criticism was made of my thesis. 'You have not mentioned the Programme of Nancy,' said the illustrious professor. I replied: 'What is the Programme of Nancy?' Embarrassed, he confessed he did not know. He turned to the other examiner, who also did not know. Were they frauds?

LRB 5 January 1989 | PDF Download