It is not often that one gets to write a preface to a collection of one's own papers. The most urgent task is to thank the people who made this book possible. That means first of all Hy Bass who, on behalf of Springer-Verlag, approached me about the idea. The late Walter Kaufmann-Biihler was very encouraging; Paulo Ribenboim helped in an important way; and Ina Lindemann saw the project through with tact and skill that I deeply appreciate. My wishes have been indulged in two ways. First, I was allowed to follow up each selected paper with an afterthought. Back in my student days I became aware of the Gesammelte Mathematische Werke of Dedekind, edited by Fricke, Noether, and Ore. I was impressed by the editors' notes that followed most of the papers and found them very usefuL A more direct model was furnished by the collected papers of Lars Ahlfors, in which the author himself supplied afterthoughts for each paper or group of papers. These were tough acts to follow, but I hope that some readers will find at least some of my afterthoughts interesting. Second, I was permitted to add eight previously unpublished items. My model here, to a certain extent, was the charming little book, A Mathematician's Miscel lany by J. E. Littlewood. In picking these eight I had quite a selection to make -from fourteen loose-leaf notebooks of such writings. Here again I hope that at least some will be found to be of interest.
This volume presents lecture notes based on the author's courses on Lie algebras and the solution of Hilbert's fifth problem. In chapter 1, "Lie Algebras," the structure theory of semi-simple Lie algebras in characteristic zero is presented, following the ideas of Killing and Cartan. Chapter 2, "The Structure of Locally Compact Groups," deals with the solution of Hilbert's fifth problem given by Gleason, Montgomery, and Zipplin in 1952.
This is a book that could profitably be read by many graduate students or by seniors in strong major programs … has a number of good features. There are many informal comments scattered between the formal development of theorems and these are done in a light and pleasant style. … There is a complete proof of the equivalence of the axiom of choice, Zorn's Lemma, and well-ordering, as well as a discussion of the use of these concepts. There is also an interesting discussion of the continuum problem … The presentation of metric spaces before topological spaces … should be welcomed by most students, since metric spaces are much closer to the ideas of Euclidean spaces with which they are already familiar. —Canadian Mathematical Bulletin Kaplansky has a well-deserved reputation for his expository talents. The selection of topics is excellent. — Lance Small, UC San Diego This book is based on notes from a course on set theory and metric spaces taught by Edwin Spanier, and also incorporates with his permission numerous exercises from those notes. The volume includes an Appendix that helps bridge the gap between metric and topological spaces, a Selected Bibliography, and an Index.
The author of this text seeks to remedy a common failing in teaching algebra: the neglect of related instruction in geometry. Focusing on inner product spaces, orthogonal similarity, and elements of geometry, this volume is illustrated with an abundance of examples, exercises, and proofs and is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate courses. 1974 edition.
From the Preface: "This book is based on notes prepared for a course at the University of Chicago. The course was intended for nonmajors whose mathematical training was somewhat limited ... Mastery of the material requires nothing beyond algebra and geometry normally covered in high school ... [It] could be used in courses designed for students who intend to teach mathematics ... We want the reader to see mathematics as a living subject in which new results are constantly being obtained." Reprint/Revision History: second edition 1978
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