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This is the third volume of the collected papers of George Pólya, one of the most influential mathematicians and teachers of our time. Volumes I (Singularities of Analytic Functions) and II (Location of Zeros) were published in 1974.

Volume III contains 58 papers spanning Pólya's career (the earliest is from 1913, the latest from 1976) and covering a wide range of subjects in mathematical analysis and mathematical physics. The commentaries on these papers attest to the fertility and continued importance of Pólya's ideas in current mathematics.

This volume is the twenty-second in the series Mathematicians of Our Time, edited by Gian-Carlo Rota. ... Read more

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From the reviews of Vol. IV:

"This is the fourth volume of J-P. Serre's Collected Papers covering the period 1985-1998. Items, numbered 133-173, contain "the essence'' of his work from that period and are devoted to number theory, algebraic geometry, and group theory. Half of them are articles and another half are summaries of his courses in those years and letters. Most courses have never been previously published, nor proofs of the announced results. The letters reproduced, however (in particular to K. Ribet and M.-F. Vignéras), provide indications of some of those proofs. Also included is an interview with J-P. Serre from 1986, revealing his views on mathematics (with the stress upon its integrity) and his own mathematical activity. The volume ends with Notes which complete the text by reporting recent progress and occasionally correct it.

The volume is an indispensable addition to previous ones and the whole set presents a fine piece of modern mathematics."

Zentralblatt MATH

In this softcover edition of volume IV, two recently published articles have been added, one on the life and works of Andrè Weil, the other one on Finite Subgroups of Lie Groups.

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R. L. Moore: Mathematician & Teacher presents a full and frank biography of a mathematician recognized as one of the principal figures in the 20th Century progression of the American school of point set topology. He was equally well known as creator of the Moore Method (no textbooks, no lectures, no conferring) in which there is a current and growing revival of interest and modified application under inquiry-based learning projects in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Parker draws on oral history, with first-person recollections from many leading figures in the American mathematics community of the last half-century. The story embraces some of the most famous and influential mathematical names in America and Europe from the late 1900s in what is undoubtedly a lively account of this controversial figure, once described as Mr. Chips with Attitude. He was the first American to become a Visiting Lecturer for the American Mathematical Society, was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, published 68 papers and a book that is still referred to seventy years later and that has been the subject of literally hundreds of papers by other mathematicians around the globe.

Three of Moore’s students followed him as president of the American Mathematical Society, and three others became vice-presidents. Five served as president of the Mathematical Association of America, and three became members of the National Academy of Sciences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

History of a giant of the mathematics profession
The name of R. L. Moore appears throughout the mathematical literature, primarily for the Moore method of teaching, secondarily for the achievements of his mathematical progeny and thirdly for his mathematical output. Since his output was considerable, this order says something for the significance of the first two. The Moore method of instruction involved no textbooks, no lectures and no conferring between the students. The naïve person would argue that it is inappropriate to refer to it as a method of teaching. However, it did involve a great deal of instructor involvement, largely directing the students by asking appropriate questions and critiquing student work. As would be expected with any unusual teaching strategy, the students who succeeded praised it and those who didn't generally have a negative opinion. The best way to evaluate it is to examine how well his students did in their profession, and in that area, he has no peer. Three of his students served as president of the American Mathematical Society and three others were vice-president. Five of his students served as president of the Mathematical Association of America, which makes him the equivalent of the founder of a political dynasty.
While Moore was indeed brilliant in his work, he was also very cantankerous. He had strong opinions on many things outside of mathematics, and he did not hesitate to make them known when he felt it necessary. Being a man of the south, he was opposed to many of the liberal trends of the late fifties and sixties, putting his arguments forward in a states rights context. The story of his last years as a professor and how the administration tried to remove him is amazing. There was point/counterpoint, devious manipulation and some of the most obfuscated doubletalk that has ever appeared in an academic setting. Moore was also in the middle of many of the internal political battles that took place at the University of Texas, and some of them had national ramifications.
R. L. Moore was a powerful figure in the American mathematical community of the twentieth century. He is arguably the most powerful that was not imported, and he was involved in research, training high quality mathematicians and fought many political battles against anyone who disagreed with him. This biography is an honest appraisal of the man and the many ways he impacted the mathematical profession.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

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Contrary to popular belief--and despite the expulsion, emigration, or death of many German mathematicians--substantial mathematics was produced in Germany during 1933-1945. In this landmark social history of the mathematics community in Nazi Germany, Sanford Segal examines how the Nazi years affected the personal and academic lives of those German mathematicians who continued to work in Germany.

The effects of the Nazi regime on the lives of mathematicians ranged from limitations on foreign contact to power struggles that rattled entire institutions, from changed work patterns to military draft, deportation, and death. Based on extensive archival research, Mathematicians under the Nazis shows how these mathematicians, variously motivated, reacted to the period's intense political pressures. It details the consequences of their actions on their colleagues and on the practice and organs of German mathematics, including its curricula, institutions, and journals. Throughout, Segal's focus is on the biographies of individuals, including mathematicians who resisted the injection of ideology into their profession, some who worked in concentration camps, and others (such as Ludwig Bieberbach) who used the "Aryanization" of their profession to further their own agendas. Some of the figures are no longer well known; others still tower over the field. All lived lives complicated by Nazi power.

Presenting a wealth of previously unavailable information, this book is a large contribution to the history of mathematics--as well as a unique view of what it was like to live and work in Nazi Germany. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mathematicians under the Nazis
This is not a history of mathematics in German universities during the Nazi regime. It is a history of politics among German mathematicians during the Nazi regime. The names are here but the mathematics is not. I began to read it, then abandoned it and reverted to skimming each page when it became clear in the fourth chapter what little the book had to do with mathematics per se. The author could just as well be talking about German academic basket weavers for all it matters that the discussion refers to mathematicians. My rating of it gives it the benefit of the doubt that for those readers who care about the subject it may indeed be a valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointing.
This book was not what I expected which may explain my rating.I gave it away.The book does not delve into the details of mathematicians as anticipated.

A reprint text
The Great Mathematicians is a conversational text (no graphs, charts, orformulas) about mathematicians whose ideas have influenced or touched usinto the 20th century.Written in the 1930's, this edition is a 1993reprint, so I figure that the author's ideas have a sort of permanency,also.

Turnbull discusses nine immortal mathematicians and mentions dozensof others.In the 1930s he clearly had a grasp on the directions ofmathematics, but his slant definitely is toward geometry and calculus.Hedoes not even mention mathematical logicians.

I liked the personaldescriptions of the lives of mathematicians.Yet this book only begins togive a slant on the history of development of mathematics, the crosscurrents of the field.This book would be an interesting supplement to acollege level or high school honors class, but the students will not emergewith a time-line of mathematical development.

Or, you could read thisfor general interest and still get something from it. ... Read more

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One of the greatest thinkers of all time, Isaac Newton gave the world an accurate understanding of forces and motion throughout the universe. He went to college but learned much about science on his own, by observing, experimenting, and thinking carefully. Newton’s laws of motion explain, in a few sentences, how and why things move, or don’t move, when forces act on them. He also studied and described gravity and the makeup of light, and he created a kind of math known today as calculus. For more information, read Forces and Motion, another book in the Mission Science series.

... Read more

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In the late fourth and early fifth centuries of our era, Hypatia of Alexandria was the world's greatest living mathematician and astronomer. A strikingly beautiful woman and a devoted celibate, she lived in a city as turbulent and troubled as Baghdad or Beirut is today. She achieved fame not only in her special field, but also as a philosopher, religious thinker, and teacher who attracted a large popular following. Her life ended tragically in violence at the hands of a rampaging mob of Christian fanatics, who killed her for her "pagan" beliefs, some say at the instigation of St. Cyril of Alexandria.

This is the first biography of Hypatia to integrate all aspects of her life. Mathematician Michael Deakin emphasizes that, though she was a philosopher, she was first and foremost a mathematician and astronomer of great accomplishment. In a fascinating narrative that brings to life a richly diverse ancient society, he describes her work so that the mathematics, presented in straightforward terms, finds its true place in the context of her life as a whole. Deakin supplies full detail on the historical, intellectual, and religious context of Hypatia's times. He also analyzes the pattern of her life and thought, and finally gives an account of the events leading up to her lynch-mob execution.

Although this outrageous crime has made Hypatia a powerful symbol of intellectual freedom and feminist aspiration to this day, Deakin makes clear that the important intellectual contributions of her life's work should not be overshadowed by her tragic death. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Lost World of Hypatia
The disappointing thing about this book is the lack of a good narrative. The problem is that there is so little known about Hypatia and her world that not a lot can be said. Try to imagine a colony in Egypt of mostly Greek ethnicity, where pagans and Christians both fought and coexisted and interacted, if not always well, with a Jewish minority. The culture was in decline and the science, such as it was, died with Hypatia. This resembles the contemporary USA more than Egypt or any place in North Africa or the Middle East today. The academic mathematics community has become utterly moribund and it is being followed by theoretical physics (see Lee Smolin's book "The Trouble with Physics"). Who is our version of Hypatia? Perhaps Lynn Margulis, a biologist whe dares to be different.

Very good
This book is very good. The historical context about Hypatia's time and life is very interesting. Read this book, you'll learn much more about the christian's church in the first times.

A specialist's view
This is a difficult book to evaluate. Deakin is a mathematician, not a classical historian, and apart from his discussion of Hypatia's place in Alexandrian mathematics, this biography contains little that is not already to be found elsewhere, most notably in Maria Dzielska's study. Deakin does a reasonable job of putting Hypatia in a cultural context, but his understanding of late antiquity is superficial and admittedly garnered largely from encyclopedias. On the other hand, he has closely studied the sources for Hypatia's life (which he includes in an appendix) and the meagre evidence for her influence on philosophy and science. His introduction to astrolabes and conic sections is of some intrinsic interest and helps illuminate the state of knowledge in the fifth century, but since we have not one shred of writing that is inarguably Hypatia's work, the connection is rather tenuous. Nonetheless Deakin's conclusions give a valuable new perspective on this best-known of female Hellenists: one of a teacher with a wide range of interests, if not an original thinker. ... Read more

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In this charming memoir, a renowned mathematician and winner of the American Book Award traces his career in mathematics from early lessons in horse racing and the realities of life to his adventures on the lecture circuit. A thought-provoking mix of autobiography, history, and insights into the role of mathematics in everyday life, this highly entertaining book will appeal to all readers. ... Read more

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Shirley was raised by her mother in rural, segregatedGeorgia just before the national civil rights movement. As anAfrican-American child in a small southern town, she encountered bothprejudice and peer pressure that tried to discourage her determinationto succeed. Never giving up, she earned a Ph.D. in mathematics--thefirst African- American to earn a doctorate from the University ofGeorgia and went on to become Dean of Student Affairs at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. ... Read more

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Weeks' volume is a translation from the Latin of the third and last edition of Waring's Meditationes algebraicae. Weeks incorporates many corrections and additions that had appeared separately. The appendix offers the only critical review of Meditationes ever published, written in 1923 by Franz X. Mayer. ... Read more

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A fascinating biography of a great scientist
The biography is written brilliantly and is quite fascinating. The 98-year long life of Hadamard was extraordinary, filled with fantastic joys, like playing the violin with Albert Einstein, and terrible hardships, as losinghis three sons in the two World Wars. He was a man of amazing activity andgreat social commitment, being involved in the struggle for human rights.In his lifetime, the world was a scene of tremendous perturbations andchanges in all respects, and so also in the area of science, where Hadamardwas a great driving force especially in mathematics, but also in physics,mechanics, psycology of invention etc. Little did he realise during hiscareer that his matrices later would be used in the coding theory oftoday.

The chapters about Hadamard's work in mathematical physicscontains a lot of untraditional, interesting and almost unknown material.It is hard to find elsewhere such a complete and clearly written survey ofthe history ofthe disproval of several "obvious" hypotheses.

The textis tastefully mixed with illustrations and the occasional anecdote makes ita quite entertaining read. I can higly recommend it to anybody, fromundergraduate students to high-level professionals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

For both community and college library collections dedicated to the history of mathematics and extraordinary women
Throughout history, women have advanced and broken many barriers in different fields. "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi: An Eighteenth-Century Woman Mathematician" is a look at the life of a major contributor to the field of math in a time where women were still viewed as vastly inferior to men in intellectual fields. Agnesi spited this claim and did much work on the field, and slowly earned some degree of respect from history for her work. Containing not only a biography, but a translation of some of her more essential work from the original Italian into English, Cupillari does much to demonstrate the vital purpose of Agnesi's contribution. With thirteen black and white photographs of the documents of her time, indexes, and explanations of her work, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi" is an enthusiastically recommended piece for both community and college library collections dedicated to the history of mathematics and extraordinary women.
... Read more

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This volume is about the life and work of Shiing-Shen Chern(1911-), one of the leading mathematicians of this century. The bookcontains personal accounts by some friends, together with a summary ofthe mathematical works by Chern himself. Besides a selection of themathematical papers the book also contains all his papers publishedafter 1988. ... Read more