Out of the ivory tower: The significance of Dirk Struik as historian of mathematics (Q1867855)

Translation of an address given April 20, 2001, at Amsterdam, during a conference session in memory of Dirk Struik (1894-2000); the original Dutch version was published in Nieuw Arch. Wisk (5) 2, No. 3, 244--247 (2001). Because of his death in 2000, and earlier on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 1994, several publications on his life, work and personality appeared, such as [\textit{G. Alberts}, On connecting socialism and mathematics: Dirk Struik, Jan Burgers, and Jan Tinbergen. Hist. Math. 21, 280-305 (1994; Zbl 0812.01047); In memoriam Dirk Struik (1894-2000) [in Dutch]. Nieuw Arch. Wisk. (5) 1, 354--355 (2000), Euclides 76, 218--222 (2001) and \textit{D. E. Rowe}, Math. Intell. 11, 14--26 (1989; Zbl 0659.01017), 245--273 (1994; Zbl 0827.01016)].