Mathematics, Volume 3: Its Contents, Methods, and Meaning

(Paperback, second edition)

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Available again from the MIT Press.

Reviews

"An excellent reference set for bright high school students and beginning college students ... also of value to their teachers for lucid discussions and many good elementary examples in both familiar and unfamiliar branches. The intelligentsia of laymen who care to tackle more than today's popular magazine articles on mathematics will find many rewarding introductions to subjects of current interest."-- "The Mathematics Teacher"
"Whether a physicist wishes to know what a Lie algebra is or how it is related to a Lie group, or an undergraduate would like to begin the study of homology, or a crystallographer is interested in Fedorov groups, or an engineer in probability, or any scientist in computing machines, he will find here a connected, lucid account."-- "Science"
"In effect, these volumes present a do-it-yourself course for the person who would like to know what the chief fields of modern mathematics are all about bit who does not aspire to be a professional mathematician or a professional user of mathematics. The coverage is extremely wide, including such important areas as linear algebra, group theory, functional analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations, the theory of functions of real and complex variables, and related subjects.... What makes these volumes so readable as compared with usual mathematics textbooks is the emphasis here upon basic concepts and results rather than upon the intricate and wearying proofs that make such demands in conventional textbooks and courses. There are proofs in these volumes, but usually they are presented only for the most important results, and even then to emphasize key areas and to illustrate the kind of methodology employed.... It is hard to imagine that any intelligent American with a curi