"Extremely readable recollections of the author... A rare testimony of a period of the history of 20th century mathematics. Includes very interesting recollections on the author's participation in the formation of the Bourbaki Group, tells of his meetings and conversations with leading mathematicians, reflects his views on mathematics. The book describes an extraordinary career of an exceptional man and mathematicians. Strongly recommended to specialists as well as to the general public."

EMS Newsletter (1992)

"This excellent book is the English edition of the author's autobiography. This very enjoyable reading is recommended to all mathematicians."
Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (1992)"

From the reviews "...All of Weil's works except for books and lecture notes are compiled here, in strict chronological order for easy reference. But the value ...goes beyond the convenience of easy reference and accessibility. In the first place, these volumes contain several essays, letters, and addresses which were either published in obscure places (...) or not published at all. Even more valuable are the lengthy commentaries on many of the articles, written by Weil himself. These remarks serve as a guide, helping the reader place the papers in their proper context. Moreover, we have the rare opportunity of seeing a great mathematician in his later life reflecting on the development of his ideas and those of his contemporaries at various stages of his career. The sheer number of mathematical papers of fundamental significance would earn Weil's Collected Papers a place in the library of a mathematician with an interest in number theory, algebraic geometry, representations theory, or related areas. The additional import of the mathematical history and culture in these volumes makes them even more essential." Neal Koblitz in Mathematical Reviews "...Andre Weil's mathematical work has deeply influenced the mathematics of the twentieth century and the monumental (. ..) "Collected papers" emphasize this influence." O. Fomenko in Zentralblatt der Mathematik

From the reviews "...All of Weil's works except for books and lecture notes are compiled here, in strict chronological order for easy reference. But the value ...goes beyond the convenience of easy reference and accessibility. In the first place, these volumes contain several essays, letters, and addresses which were either published in obscure places (...) or not published at all. Even more valuable are the lengthy commentaries on many of the articles, written by Weil himself. These remarks serve as a guide, helping the reader place the papers in their proper context. Moreover, we have the rare opportunity of seeing a great mathematician in his later life reflecting on the development of his ideas and those of his contemporaries at various stages of his career. The sheer number of mathematical papers of fundamental significance would earn Weil's Collected Papers a place in the library of a mathematician with an interest in number theory, algebraic geometry, representations theory, or related areas. The additional import of the mathematical history and culture in these volumes makes them even more essential." Neal Koblitz in Mathematical Reviews "...Andre Weil's mathematical work has deeply influenced the mathematics of the twentieth century and the monumental (. ..) "Collected papers" emphasize this influence." O. Fomenko in Zentralblatt der Mathematik

This book presents a historical overview of number theory. It examines texts that span some thirty-six centuries of arithmetical work, from an Old Babylonian tablet to Legendre's Essai sur la Theorie des Nombres, written in 1798. Coverage employs a historical approach in the analysis of problems and evolving methods of number theory and their significance within mathematics. The book also takes the reader into the workshops of four major authors of modern number theory: Fermat, Euler, Lagrange and Legendre and presents a detailed and critical examination of their work.

In the summer quarter of 1949, I taught a ten-weeks introductory course on number theory at the University of Chicago; it was announced in the catalogue as "Alge bra 251." What made it possible, in the form which I had planned for it, was the fact that Max Rosenlicht, now of the University of California at Berkeley, was then my assistant. According to his recollection, "this was the first and last time, in the his tory of the Chicago department of mathematics, that an assistant worked for his salary." The course consisted of two lectures a week, supplemented by a weekly "laboratory period" where students were given exercises which they were. asked to solve under Max's supervision and (when necessary) with his help. This idea was borrowed from the "Praktikum" of German universi ties. Being alien to the local tradition, it did not work out as well as I had hoped, and student attendance at the problem sessions so on became desultory. v vi Weekly notes were written up by Max Rosenlicht and issued week by week to the students. Rather than a literal reproduction of the course, they should be regarded as its skeleton; they were supplemented by references to stan dard text-books on algebra. Max also contributed by far the larger part of the exercises. None of, this was meant for publication."

"Extremely readable recollections of the author... A rare testimony of a period of the history of 20th century mathematics. Includes very interesting recollections on the author's participation in the formation of the Bourbaki Group, tells of his meetings and conversations with leading mathematicians, reflects his views on mathematics. The book describes an extraordinary career of an exceptional man and mathematicians. Strongly recommended to specialists as well as to the general public."

EMS Newsletter (1992)

"This excellent book is the English edition of the author's autobiography. This very enjoyable reading is recommended to all mathematicians."
Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (1992)"

From the reviews: "L.R. Shafarevich showed me the first edition [ ] and said that this book will be from now on the book about class field theory. In fact it is by far the most complete treatment of the main theorems of algebraic number theory, including function fields over finite constant fields, that appeared in book form." Zentralblatt MATH

From the reviews: "...All of Weil's works except for books and lecture notes are compiled here, in strict chronological order for easy reference. But the value ...goes beyond the convenience of easy reference and accessibility. In the first place, these volumes contain several essays, letters, and addresses which were either published in obscure places (...) or not published at all. Even more valuable are the lengthy commentaries on many of the articles, written by Weil himself. These remarks serve as a guide, helping the reader place the papers in their proper context. Moreover, we have the rare opportunity of seeing a great mathematician in his later life reflecting on the development of his ideas and those of his contemporaries at various stages of his career. The sheer number of mathematical papers of fundamental significance would earn Weil's Collected Papers a place in the library of a mathematician with an interest in number theory, algebraic geometry, representations theory, or related areas. The additional import of the mathematical history and culture in these volumes makes them even more essential." Neal Koblitz in Mathematical Reviews "...Andre Weil's mathematical work has deeply influenced the mathematics of the twentieth century and the monumental (. ..) "Collected papers" emphasize this influence." O. Fomenko in Zentralblatt der Mathematik

From the reviews: "The broad lines of Kummer's number-theoretic ideas now form an essential part of our heritage: it is fascinating to follow the details of their evolution... Volume I consists of Kummer's number theory. It constitutes a unity of thought and spirit almost from first sentence to last. One of the joys of reading it is in the double spectacle: the steady train of mathematical content, unimpeded by lack of basic algebraic number theory; while here and there, to serve problems at hand, the deft, unobtrusive forging of pieces of present day technique. It is not hard to get into, even for those of us who have had little contact with the history of our subject. Cleft though one may think one is from historical sources, on reading Kummer one finds that the rift is jumpable, the jump pleasurable. The reader is greatly helped in this jump in two ways. Firstly, included in the volume is a continuum of well-written, moving letters from Kummer to Kronecker giving the details of many of Kummer's important discoveries as they freshly occurred to him (these, together with some letters from Kummer to his mother, form part of a description of Kummer's work by Hensel on the occasion of the centenary of Kummer's birth, also included in the volume). Secondly, there is an excellent introduction, in which Weil describes the main lines of Kummer's work, and explains its relations to Kummer's contemporaries, and to us."

Mein Leben, oder zumindest das, was diesen Namen verdient -ein ausser- gewoehnlich gluckliches Leben mit einigen Schicksalsschlagen -erstreckte sich auf die Zeit zwischen dem 6. Mai 1906, dem Tag meiner Geburt, und dem 24. Mai 1986, dem Todestag meiner Frau und Gefahrtin Eveline. Wenn auf diesen Seiten, die ihr gewidmet sind, von meiner Frau recht wenig die Rede sein wird, heisst das nicht, dass sie in meinem Leben und in meinen Gedanken einen geringen Platz eingenommen hatte. Sie war im Gegenteil, beinahe vom Tag unserer ersten Begegnung an, so eng damit verwoben, dass von mir oder von ihr zu sprechen ein und dasselbe ist. Ihre Anwesenheit beziehungsweise ihre Abwesenheit bestimmte die Textur meines ganzen Lebens. Was koennte ich anderes dazu sagen, als dass unsere Ehe eine von jenen war, die La Rochefoucauld Lugen strafen? "Fulsere vere candidi mihi soles . . . . " Ebenso wird meine Schwester kaum erwahnt werden. Es ist schon lange her, dass ich meine Erinnerungen an sie Simone Petrement mitgeteilt habe, die sie in ihre gute Biographie La vie de Simone Weil einfliessen liess, wo man viele Einzelheiten uber unsere gemeinsame Kindheit erfahren kann, und es ware unnoetig, dies hier zu wiederholen. Als Kinder waren wir unzertrennlich, aber ich war der grosse Bruder und sie die kleine Schwester. Spater waren wir selten zusammen, und meist sprachen wir in scherzhaftem Ton miteinander, denn sie hatte ein froehliches und humorvolles Naturell, wie alle, die sie kannten, bestatigt haben.