From rather modest beginnings, the British Combinatorial Conference grew into an established biennial international gathering. A successful format for the series of conferences was established, whereby several distinguished mathematicians were invited to give a survey lecture and to write a paper for the conference volume. The 1983 conference was held in Southampton, and this volume contains the invited papers, comprising three each from the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the United States. These papers cover a broad range of combinatorial topics, including enumeration, finite geometries, graph theory and permanents. The book will be of value not only to mathematicians, but also to scientists, engineers and others interested in combinatorial ideas.

First published in 1976, this book, now reissued in paperback, has been widely acclaimed both for its significant contribution to the history of mathematics and for the way that it brings the subject alive. Building on a set of original writings from some of the founders of graph theory, the book traces the historical development of the subject through a linking commentary. The relevant underlying mathematics is also explained, providing an original introduction to the subject for students.

From reviews of the hardback:

The book...serves as an excellent example in fact, as a model of a new approach to one aspect of mathematics, when mathematics is considered as a living, vital and developing tradition. Isis

Biggs, Lloyd and Wilson's unusual and remarkable book traces the evolution and development of graph theory...Conceived in a very original manner and obviously written with devotion and a very great amount of painstaking historical research, it contains an exceptionally fine collection of source material, and to a graph theorist it is a treasure chest of fascinating historical information and curiosities with rich food for thought. Centaurus