Mathematical Reviews

This second volume of Featured Reviews makes available special detailed reviews of some of the most important mathematical articles and books published from 1997 through 1999. Also included are excellent reviews of several classic books and articles published prior to 1970. Among those reviews, for example, are the following: Homological Algebra by Henri Cartan and Samuel Eilenberg, reviewed by G. Hochschild; Faisceaux algebriques coherents by Jean-Pierre Serre, reviewed by C. Chevalley; and On the Theory of General Partial Differential Operators by Lars Hormander, reviewed by J. L. Lions. In particular, those seeking information on current developments outside their own area of expertise will find the volume very useful. By identifying some of the best publications, papers, and books that have had or are expected to have a significant impact in applied and pure mathematics, this volume will serve as a comprehensive guide to important new research across all fields covered by MR.

This collection of reprinted 'Featured Reviews' published in Mathematical Reviews (MR) in 1995 and 1996 makes widely available informed reviews of some of the best mathematics published recently. 'Featured Reviews' were introduced in MR at the beginning of 1995 in part to provide some guidance to the current research-level literature. With the exponential growth of publications in mathematical research in the first half-century of MR, it had become essentially impossible for users of MR to identify the most important new research-level books and papers, especially in fields outside of the users' own expertise. This work identifies some of the "best" new publications, papers, and books that are expected to have a significant impact on the area of pure or applied mathematics with which researchers are concerned. All of the papers reviewed here contain interesting new ideas or applications, a deep synthesis of existing ideas, or any combination of these. The volume is intended to lead the user to important new research across all fields covered by MR.

Demonstrates the potential for literature in learnersin a variety of mathematical investigations.

Andrzej Mostowski was one of the leading 20th century logicians. His legacy is examined in this volume of papers devoted both to his extraordinary scientific heritage and to the memory of him as a great researcher, teacher, organizer of science and human. Professor Mostowski pioneered and mastered many areas of mathematical logic. His contributions spanned set theory, recursion theory, and model theory - the backbone of foundations of mathematics. He is best known of the Kleene-Mostowski and Davis-Mostowski hierarchies of properties of integers reflecting the complexity of their definitions, and of the very elegant concept of a generalized quantifier which inspired and keeps stimulating a stream of deep work on fundamental issues of logics, deduction and reasoning both in mathematics and in computer science, and also of the contributions and excellent lectures on undecidability, unprovability, consistency and independence of various statements in set theory and arithmetic following Gödel, Tarski and Cohen. The overall content of the volume is designed to cover the current main streams in the field. For many years after WWII, especially in the late sixties, till his untimely death in 1975, Warsaw - where he led the centre of foundational studies - was a place where many leading logicians visited, studied, and started their career. Their memories form an important part of this volume, attempting to bring back the extraordinary achievements and personality of Mostowski.

This book is a reference for librarians, mathematicians, and statisticians involved in college and research level mathematics and statistics in the 21st century. We are in a time of transition in scholarly communications in mathematics, practices which have changed little for a hundred years are giving way to new modes of accessing information. Where journals, books, indexes and catalogs were once the physical representation of a good mathematics library, shelves have given way to computers, and users are often accessing information from remote places. Part I is a historical survey of the past 15 years tracking this huge transition in scholarly communications in mathematics. Part II of the book is the bibliography of resources recommended to support the disciplines of mathematics and statistics. These are grouped by type of material. Publication dates range from the 1800's onwards. Hundreds of electronic resources-some online, both dynamic and static, some in fixed media, are listed among the paper resources. Amazingly a majority of listed electronic resources are free.

“A vibrant memoir of race, violence, family, and manhood…a virtuosic wail of a book” (The Boston Globe), Survival Math calculates how award-winning author Mitchell S. Jackson survived the Portland, Oregon, of his youth. This “spellbinding” (NPR) book explores gangs and guns, near-death experiences, sex work, masculinity, composite fathers, the concept of “hustle,” and the destructive power of addiction—all framed within the story of Mitchell Jackson, his family, and his community. Lauded for its breathtaking pace, its tender portrayals, its stark candor, and its luminous style, Survival Math reveals on every page the searching intellect and originality of its author. The primary narrative, focused on understanding the antecedents of Jackson’s family’s experience, is complemented by survivor files, which feature photographs and riveting short narratives of several of Jackson’s male relatives. “A vulnerable, sobering look at Jackson’s life and beyond, in all its tragedies, burdens, and faults” (San Francisco Chronicle), the sum of Survival Math’s parts is a highly original whole, one that reflects on the exigencies—over generations—that have shaped the lives of so many disenfranchised Americans. “Both poetic and brutally honest” (Salon), Mitchell S. Jackson’s nonfiction debut is as essential as it is beautiful, as real as it is artful, a singular achievement, not to be missed.

Most philosophers of mathematics treat it as isolated, timeless, ahistorical, inhuman. Reuben Hersh argues the contrary, that mathematics must be understood as a human activity, a social phenomenon, part of human culture, historically evolved, and intelligible only in a social context. Hersh pulls the screen back to reveal mathematics as seen by professionals, debunking many mathematical myths, and demonstrating how the "humanist" idea of the nature of mathematics more closely resembles how mathematicians actually work. At the heart of his book is a fascinating historical account of the mainstream of philosophy--ranging from Pythagoras, Descartes, and Spinoza, to Bertrand Russell, David Hilbert, and Rudolph Carnap--followed by the mavericks who saw mathematics as a human artifact, including Aristotle, Locke, Hume, Mill, and Lakatos. What is Mathematics, Really? reflects an insider's view of mathematical life, and will be hotly debated by anyone with an interest in mathematics or the philosophy of science.