Collected Papers Of John Milnor

This fifth volume of collected papers constitutes not only an important historical archive, but also a valuable resource for work in the fields treated. The papers are complemented by detailed surveys on the current state of the field in two areas: the congruence subgroup problem and the algebraic $K$-theory and quadratic forms.

This elegant book by distinguished mathematician John Milnor, provides a clear and succinct introduction to one of the most important subjects in modern mathematics. Beginning with basic concepts such as diffeomorphisms and smooth manifolds, he goes on to examine tangent spaces, oriented manifolds, and vector fields. Key concepts such as homotopy, the index number of a map, and the Pontryagin construction are discussed. The author presents proofs of Sard's theorem and the Hopf theorem.

This volume contains papers of one of the best modern geometers and topologists, John Milnor, on various topics related to the notion of the fundamental group. The volume contains sixteen papers divided into four parts: Knot theory, Free actions on spheres, Torsion, and Three-dimensional manifolds. Each part is preceded by an introduction containing the author's comments on further development of the subject. Although some of the papers were written quite a while ago, they appear more modern than many of today's publications. Milnor's excellent, clear, and laconic style makes the book a real treat. This volume is highly recommended to a broad mathematical audience, and, in particular, to young mathematicians who will certainly benefit from their acquaintance with Milnor's mode of thinking and writing.

This volume is the seventh in the series Collected Papers of John Milnor. Together with the preceding Volume VI, it contains all of Milnor's papers in dynamics, through the year 2012. Most of the papers are in holomorphic dynamics; however, there are two in real dynamics and one on cellular automata. Two of the papers are published here for the first time. The papers in this volume provide important and fundamental material in real and complex dynamical systems. Many have become classics, and have inspired further research in the field. Some of the questions addressed here continue to be important in current research. In some cases, there have been minor corrections or clarifications, as well as references to more recent work which answers questions raised by the author. The volume also includes an index to facilitate searching the book for specific topics.