Nicolas Bourbaki does not exist. This name is used as a pseudonym for a group of mainly French mathematicians who started publishing collectively in 1939 (the year of birth given above). The stated aim of the Bourbaki group is to produce a modern overview of mathematics relevant to university students.

The founding members of the Bourbaki group were all graduates from the Ecole Normal Superieure, in Paris. The original members were Henri Cartan, Claude Chevalley, Jean Dieudonne, Jean Deslarte, and Andre Weil. Their aim was to produce a modern text book for French University students to replace the classic work by Goursat. With their desire to keep the work up to date and fresh, a rule was adopted such that members upon reaching their 50th birthday would have to relinquish their membership in the group.

The first book in this series, Elements of Mathematics, was published in 1939 and it...