Fill in the Blanks englishOnline version ¿Quién fue Nicolás Bourbaki? by paulina Ramirez Farrera 1 influential write Nicolas axioms revolutionizing function theorems ruse did joke 1968 mathematical result American their began calculus definitions mathématique found publish rejected French 1934 1950s Bourbaki logical When Nicolas Bourbaki applied to the Mathematical Society in the , he was already one of the most mathematicians of his time . Yet his application was firmly for one simple reason Bourbaki not exist . In , a group of mathematicians were particularly fed up . While studying at the prestigious École normale supérieure , they the textbook for their class so disjointed that they decided to a better one . The was the " Éléments de mathématique , " a treatise that sought to create a consistent framework unifying every branch of mathematics . The text with a set of simple . From there , its authors derived more and more complex , to accomplish this , they gave new , clear to some of the most important objects , including the . They were the field , and they wanted to mark the occasion with biggest stunt yet . They decided to " Éléments de " and all their subsequent work under a collective pseudonym : Nicolas . In , when they could no longer maintain the , the group ended their the only way they could . They printed Bourbaki's obituary , complete with mathematical puns .