Samit Dasgupta '99, who as a first year took Bott's introductory topology class and is currently taking Bott's differential geometry class, says he believes Bott is preoccupied with large issues as opposed to the details.

"His reputation [among students in his class] is to be a deep thinker, [rather than] someone who would do arithmetical computations off the top of his head," Dasgupta says.

To Biss, it seems that Bott's teaching style reflects the emphasis on freedom that he loved as a student.

"His teaching style is very conceptual, he tends to give you a skeleton to flesh out," Biss says, "So, if you're motivated, it can be inspiring."

Besides mathematics, Bott, a former Dunster House Master, also loves playing the piano and has studied at the Longy School of Music. He commutes to Harvard by bicycle each day.

With information from "Autobiographical Sketches & Autobiographical Fragments" by Raoul Bott