Max August Zorn/Talk

I met Max Zorn once. I was taking graduate level Real Analysis as part of my PhD studies at Indiana University. Of course, I had just learned Zorn's lemma. I assumed that it was made up by someone long dead.

It was a day with dark foreboding clouds. Just as I walked into the snack machine room, there was a sudden massive downpour. I saw an elderly gentleman struggling to close the window. I went over and helped. He thanked me. We shook our heads together at the suddenness of the storm.

After he walked out, a classmate said, "Dude, that was Max Zorn, of Zorn's Lemma."

Apparently at the time, he was retired emeritus, but apparently he still came to the office from time to time.

--Jimbo Wales