Rodoljub the Sparrow


Some time ago, I was sitting on a bench outside the University of Maryland mathematics building. I turned to a sparrow beside me, and asked, ``What is the deal with homotopy colimits?''

He looked me in the eyes, defecated on the bench, and flew off. In this moment, I understood the construction of homotopy categories.

The sparrow's name? Rodoljub Milenković.

Bench where this occurred
Photo of the bench, taken four years later.
We can learn a great deal from birds.
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