Editing Abstract nonsense (section)

==History==

The term predates the foundation of category theory as a subject itself. Referring to a joint paper with [[Samuel Eilenberg]] that introduced the notion of a "[[category (mathematics)|category]]" in 1942, [[Saunders Mac Lane]] wrote the subject was 'then called "general abstract nonsense"'.<ref name="maclane">Saunders Mac Lane. "[http://www.pnas.org/content/94/12/5983.full The PNAS way back then]". ''Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA'' Vol. 94, pp.&nbsp;5983–5985, June 1997.
:"''The first of these papers is a more striking case; it introduced the very abstract idea of a "category"—a subject then called "general abstract nonsense"!''"</ref> The term is often used to describe the application of category theory and its techniques to less abstract domains.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040726025100/http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/1999/lord.pdf An Application of Abstract Nonsense to Surface Area], Harriet Lord</ref><ref>[http://www.edsko.net/tcd/talks/cattheory.pdf Abstract Nonsense for Functional Programmers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206192631/http://www.edsko.net/tcd/talks/cattheory.pdf |date=2015-02-06 }}, Edsko de Vries</ref>

The term is believed to have been coined by the mathematician [[Norman Steenrod]],<ref>Colin McLarty, ''The Uses and Abuses of the History of Topos Theory'', Br. J. Philos. Sci., 41 (1990) p 355.
: "''Steenrod jokingly tagged category theory 'abstract nonsense' and made it central to his axiomatics for homology''"</ref><ref name="rotman">Joseph Rotman, "''An Introduction to Homological Algebra'', by Charles A. Weibel" (book review), Bull. Am. Math. Soc., 33:4 (Oct. 1996) 473–476.
:"''The self-deprecating phrase ''general abstract nonsense'' (due to Steenrod) was promulgated by Eilenberg and Mac Lane, two of the major innovators of homological algebra, to highlight this aspect of the subject.''"</ref><ref name="lang">[[Serge Lang]], "Algebra" Second Edition, Addison Wesley, 1984, p 175</ref> himself one of the developers of the categorical point of view.