No label defined (Q3972926)

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0719.00018.] This is a short speech of Jacques Dixmier at the colloquium in honor of his 65th birthday. Dixmier briefly mentions mathematicians by whom he was most influenced: the lectures of Gaston Julia inspired him to study Hilbert spaces, while the global effect of Henri Cartan's lectures was overwhelming. Concerning his studies on operator algebras Dixmier mentions the influence of Roger Godement who introduced him to the representations of locally compact groups. Dixmier also emphasizes the influence of Bourbaki. As to the duties at the university, Dixmier remarks that in the fifties it was still possible to do research work ``without acrobatics'' as opposed to the situation in the eighties when commissions, general meetings, examina etc. have become major obstacles for research activities. The speech closes with some remarks on the progress of science in general.