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Ih'i~-~.,~--~_,~r4[,~- David E. Rowe, Editor I he mathematical scene at the Uni- that, he pointed this pistol at me, A Clash of versity of Texas was dominated and said, "Ah ha, what do you think T from the mid-1920s to the late of this?" I was absolutely terrified. I 1960s by two towering, yet very differ- thought he was actually going to Mathematical ent figures: Robert Lee Moore (1882- shoot me. I don't remember what I 1974), and Harry Schultz Vandiver said .... I realized that Moore and (1882-1973). Starting in the late 1930s, Daddy were not friends, and I had Titans in these two giants entered into a conflict the feeling that maybe he was go- that grew to mythic proportions and ing to kill me, but I think it was sort Austin: lasted for more than three decades. of a grim joke he was playing. The Though this affair permeated all aspects gun was loaded, that I could tell, so of departmental life, and even spilled I was not enamored of that moment. Harry S. Vandiver over into the wider arena of academic In R. L. Moore.. Mathematician and affairs in Austin, it became most visible Teacher, John Parker devotes an entire and Robert Lee in 1945 when Vandiver--whose re- chapter to this legendary feud, fittingly search focused exclusively on number entitled "Clash of Titans." Here I offer Moore theory and associated algebraic fields-- a fresh view of this rather bizarre was transferred to the Department of episode in the history of American Applied Mathematics and Astronomy. In mathematics against the background of (1924-1974) this unlikely setting, the alienated east- the portrait of Vandiver--a somewhat erner and the feisty southerner carried forgotten figure--presented in my arti- LEO CORRY on their own private cold war that cle in the last issue of this magazine. 3 echoed the politics of the post-war era. There, the focus was on Vandiver's life- In retrospect this conflict may seem long pursuit of Fermat's Last Theorem rather preposterous. In fact, eye wit- (FLT); now I turn to broader themes in nesses at Austin have never been able his career, many of which reflect on- to say precisely when and how the en- going conflicts at the University of mity began, though many could later Texas, as well as the particular antag- remember the icy non-relations be- onism that existed between him and tween Moore and Vandiver. After the Moore. Some of the main elements of departments of pure and applied math- this sto W appear in Parker's book, but ematics were joined in the early fifties, I emphasize Vandiver's perspective and Moore and Vandiver made sure that complement the picture with some in- their offices in UT's new Benedict Hall teresting unpublished documents from not only were on different floors but the latter's archive in Austin. also could be reached by separate stair- It is also important, of course, to con- ways. 1 Vandiver's son, Frank (1926- sider this conflict in context and pro- 2005), a highly respected historian of portion. There are undoubtedly many the American Civil War and president such stories of local feuds in mathe- of Texas A&M University, remembered matics departments or of local figures Moore pointing a loaded gun at him who single-handedly dominated de- when he was a child: 2 partmental life. Still, this dispute had a I was.., walking home from school special intensity and tone, heightened one day, . and this car pulled up no doubt by the stature of both men in by me on the curb, and Dr. Moore the American context at the time. Moore was in it. I thought he was going to was certainly a much respected figure offer me a ride home which I was in the American community; he served willing happily to accept. Instead of as mentor to several students who went 1[Greenwood 1988, 47]. Send submissions to David E. Rowe, 2Frank Vandiver, interview with Ben Fitzpatrick and Albert C. Lewis, June 30, 1999 (Oral History Project, The Fachbereich 08--1nstitut for Mathematik, Legacy of R. L. Moore, Archives of American Mathematics, Center for American History, The University of Texas Johannes Gutenberg University, at Austin). D55099 Mainz, Germany. 3[Corry 2007]. 62 THE MATHEMATICALINTELLIGENCER 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. on to positions of prominence. An as- Eugene Dickson (1874-1954) was the sessment of Vandiver's standing in the most prominent among the relatively community is a more complex matter, few mathematics students in those early as I pointed out in my previous article. years. After completing an M.A. degree Personal differences were no doubt in 1894, Dickson moved to Chicago to a central factor in igniting and then sus- become one of the first doctoral stu- taining and exacerbating this conflict. dents of Eliakim H. Moore (1862-1932). The gun incident with young Frank In 1899 Dickson accepted a three-year Vandiver was just one extreme exam- appointment at Texas, but soon left ple of Moore's often aggressive behav- again for Chicago, this time for good. ior. In 1944, for instance, a heated dis- One of the students in his calculus cussion in the mathematics department course during his brief tenure at UT was reportedly ended up in a fistfight be- Robert L. Moore, who also took courses tween Moore and Edwin Ford Becken- with Halsted. R. L. Moore later went to bach (1902-1982), an associate profes- Chicago for doctoral studies as well, sor at Austin at the time. 4 As Albert C. working on foundations of geometry Lewis has pointed out, "in Texas, at between 1903 and 1905. 9 least, the successful use of nonverbal Always outspoken and critical, Hal- language need not detract from one's Figure I. Harry S. Vandiver (Creator: sted eventually got into trouble with the reputation. In fact, for an established Walter Barnes Studio (HSV). Board of Regents, and at the end of 1902 male scholar it adds a cachet which can he was dismissed from his post. Math- probably only help one's reputation ematical leadership at UT devolved to outside the scholarly world. ''5 In his for taking frequent leaves of absence, Milton Brockett Porter (1869-1960) and younger years, Moore trained inten- drawing on the financial support of var- Harry Yandell Benedict (1869-1937), sively in boxing, and his rather aggres- ious foundations in order to visit other both of whom had studied at Austin and sive personality could occasionally slip departments both in the United States later completed Ph.D. degrees at Har- into physical intimidation and even as- and abroad. vard. As university regulations then al- sault. 6 Still, Moore was hardly a singu- The clash between these two mathe- lowed for only one professor in each lar case; his colleague and life-long matical titans thus operated at a variety department at UT, Benedict was ap- friend H. J. Ettlinger was involved, in of levels, including cultural and political pointed professor in applied mathemat- his youth, in physical incidents (one in issues that were charged with tense emo- ics. These regulations were later to response to an anti-Semitic insult), and tions. As I will show, personal differ- change, but the division into two de- later "was accused of using less violent ences by no means tell the whole sto W . partments would remain, and the rela- but still physical tactics in departmental This once-famous feud deserves closer tionships between them remained a controversies of subsequent years. ''7 attention because of its deeper, under- source of ongoing administrative trou- This rough-and-tumble Texas atmo- lying dimensions, which reflect how bles. 1~ The increase in student popula- sphere was not congenial to Vandiver's each of the protagonists saw himself as tion in the USA in the period following naturally reticent personality. He would a researcher and a teacher. Moreover, WWI heightened the demand for math- sometimes isolate himself for days to do the contrasting opinions and attitudes of ematics teachers across the country, research and listen to his large collec- Vandiver and Moore also had ramifica- Austin included. During the war, Goldie tion of classical records. Vandiver was tions for their respective mathematical Prentis Horton (1887-1972) had worked "hardly the athletic type," and in the activities. As we shall see, Vandiver took with Porter and in 1916 became the first winters he worked in a top coat with a a very different approach from Moore's recipient of a doctoral degree in math- portable electrical heater warming his when it came both to mathematical re- ematics granted by the University of feet and legs. 8 Moore, on the other search and mathematics education. Texas. Soon after graduating she joined hand, was a dynamo. A strongly au- the Austin faculty; she and Porter mar- thoritarian personality, he was directly Two Mathematicians, One ried in 1934. involved in, and made great efforts to University, Two Departments Porter's aim was to raise research shape, every detail of departmental life Soon after it opened in 1883, the Uni- standards at UT by hiring mathe- for decades. Vandiver always kept him- versity of Texas at Austin appointed maticians of proven quality; he was self at a safe distance from any kind of George Bruce Halsted (1810-1936) its obviously undeterred by unconven- administrative duties. He was famous first professor of mathematics. Leonard tional personalities. R. L. Moore was 4[Greenwood 1983, 53]. This incident has been confirmed to me in a personal communication by Richard Kelisky, one of Vandiver's students.

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