The adelics seem counter-intuitive. I wonder how they came up originally, and what was the immediate reward for introducing them. What was the politics of introducing the adelics into mathematical mainstream?
Politics of the Adelics
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number-theory
math-history
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7"Adèles. You put the accent there if you want people to know you speak french." -- Hendrik W. Lenstra, Jr. – 2010-12-17
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2"Politics"? Is that really the best way to put it? – 2011-04-08