Why do we need the real numbers? How should we construct them? These questions arose in the nineteenth century, along with the ideas and techniques needed to address them. Nowadays it is commonplace for apprentice mathematicians to hear 'we shall assume the standard properties of the real numbers' as part of their training. But exactly what are those properties? And why can we assume them? This book is clearly and entertainingly written for those students, with historical asides and exercises to foster understanding. Starting with the natural (counting) numbers and then looking at the rational numbers (fractions) and negative numbers, the author builds to a careful construction of the real numbers followed by the complex numbers, leaving the reader fully equipped with all the number systems required by modern mathematical analysis. Additional chapters on polynomials and quarternions provide further context for any reader wanting to delve deeper.

Dieses Buch wendet sich zuallererst an intelligente Schuler ab 14 Jahren sowie an Studienanfanger, die sich fur Mathematik interessieren und etwas mehr als die Anfangsgrunde dieser Wissenschaft kennenlernen moechten. Es gibt inzwischen mehrere Bucher, die eine ahnliche Zielstellung verfolgen. Besonders gern erinnere ich mich an das Werk Vom Einmaleins zum Integral von Colerus, das ich in meiner Kindheit las. Es beginnt mit der folgenden entschiedenen Feststellung: Die Mathematik ist eine Mausefalle. Wer einmal in dieser Falle gefangen sitzt, findet selten den Ausgang, der zuruck in seinen vormathematischen Seelenzustand leitet. ([49], S. 7) Einige dieser Bucher sind im Anhang zusammengestellt und kommen- tiert. Tatsachlich ist das Unternehmen aber so lohnenswert und die Anzahl der schon vorhandenen Bucher doch so begrenzt, dass ich mich nicht scheue, ihnen ein weiteres hinzuzufugen. An zahlreichen amerikanischen Universitaten gibt es Vorlesungen, die gemeinhin oder auch offiziell als, Mathematik fur Schoengeister'' firmieren. Dieser Kategorie ist das vorliegende Buch nicht zuzuordnen. Statt dessen soll es sich um eine, Mathematik fur Mathematiker'' handeln, fur Mathema- tiker freilich, die noch sehr wenig von der Mathematik verstehen. Weshalb aber sollte nicht der eine oder andere von ihnen eines Tages den Autor dieses 1 Buches durch seine Vorlesungen in Staunen versetzen? Ich hoffe, dass auch meine Mathematikerkollegen Freude an dem Werk haben werden, und ich wurde mir wunschen, dass auch andere Leser, bei denen die Wertschatzung fur die Mathematik starker als die Furcht vor ihr ist, Gefallen an ihm finden moegen.

Many students acquire knowledge of a large number of theorems and methods of calculus without being able to say how they work together. This book provides those students with the coherent account that they need. ""A Companion to Analysis"" explains the problems that must be resolved in order to procure a rigorous development of the calculus and shows the student how to deal with those problems. Starting with the real line, the book moves on to finite-dimensional spaces and then to metric spaces. Readers who work through this text will be ready for courses such as measure theory, functional analysis, complex analysis, and differential geometry.Moreover, they will be well on the road that leads from mathematics student to mathematician. With this book, well-known author Thomas Korner provides able and hard-working students a great text for independent study or for an advanced undergraduate or first-level graduate course. It includes many stimulating exercises. An appendix contains a large number of accessible but non-routine problems that will help students advance their knowledge and improve their technique.

In this engaging and readable book, Dr. Körner describes a variety of lively topics that continue to intrigue professional mathematicians. The topics range from the design of anchors and the Battle of the Atlantic to the outbreak of cholera in Victorian Soho. The author uses relatively simple terms and ideas, yet explains difficulties and avoids condescension. If you are a mathematician who wants to explain to others how you spend your working days, then seek inspiration here. This book will appeal to everyone interested in the uses of mathematics.

Fourier analysis is an indispensable tool for physicists, engineers and mathematicians. A wide variety of the techniques and applications of fourier analysis are discussed in Dr. Körner's highly popular book, An Introduction to Fourier Analysis (1988). In this book, Dr. Körner has compiled a collection of exercises on Fourier analysis that will thoroughly test the reader's understanding of the subject. They are arranged chapter by chapter to correspond with An Introduction to Fourier Analysis, and for all who enjoyed that book, this companion volume will be an essential purchase.

Fourier analysis is a subject that was born in physics but grew up in mathematics. Now it is part of the standard repertoire for mathematicians, physicists and engineers. This diversity of interest is often overlooked, but in this much-loved book, Tom Koerner provides a shop window for some of the ideas, techniques and elegant results of Fourier analysis, and for their applications. These range from number theory, numerical analysis, control theory and statistics, to earth science, astronomy and electrical engineering. The prerequisites are few (a reader with knowledge of second- or third-year undergraduate mathematics should have no difficulty following the text), and the style is lively and entertaining. This edition of Koerner's 1989 text includes a foreword written by Professor Terence Tao introducing it to a new generation of fans.

Why do we need the real numbers? How should we construct them? These questions arose in the nineteenth century, along with the ideas and techniques needed to address them. Nowadays it is commonplace for apprentice mathematicians to hear 'we shall assume the standard properties of the real numbers' as part of their training. But exactly what are those properties? And why can we assume them? This book is clearly and entertainingly written for those students, with historical asides and exercises to foster understanding. Starting with the natural (counting) numbers and then looking at the rational numbers (fractions) and negative numbers, the author builds to a careful construction of the real numbers followed by the complex numbers, leaving the reader fully equipped with all the number systems required by modern mathematical analysis. Additional chapters on polynomials and quarternions provide further context for any reader wanting to delve deeper.

Many books in linear algebra focus purely on getting students through exams, but this text explains both the how and the why of linear algebra and enables students to begin thinking like mathematicians. The author demonstrates how different topics (geometry, abstract algebra, numerical analysis, physics) make use of vectors in different ways and how these ways are connected, preparing students for further work in these areas. The book is packed with hundreds of exercises ranging from the routine to the challenging. Sketch solutions of the easier exercises are available online.

How should one choose the best restaurant to eat in? Can one really make money at gambling? Or predict the future? Naive Decision Making presents the mathematical basis for making decisions where the outcome may be uncertain or the interests of others have to taken into consideration. Professor Koerner takes the reader on an enjoyable journey through many aspects of mathematical decision making, with pithy observations, anecdotes and quotations. Topics include probability, statistics, Arrow's theorem, Game Theory and Nash equilibrium. Readers will also gain a great deal of insight into mathematics in general and the role it can play within society. Intended for those with elementary calculus, this book is ideal as a supplementary text for undergraduate courses in probability, game theory and decision making. Engaging and intriguing, it will also appeal to all those of a mathematical mind. To aid understanding, many exercises are included, with solutions available online.

From the author of The Pleasures of Counting and Naive Decision Making comes a calculus book perfect for self-study. It will open up the ideas of the calculus for any 16- to 18-year-old, about to begin studies in mathematics, and will be useful for anyone who would like to see a different account of the calculus from that given in the standard texts. In a lively and easy-to-read style, Professor Koerner uses approximation and estimates in a way that will easily merge into the standard development of analysis. By using Taylor's theorem with error bounds he is able to discuss topics that are rarely covered at this introductory level. This book describes important and interesting ideas in a way that will enthuse a new generation of mathematicians.

From the author of The Pleasures of Counting and Naive Decision Making comes a calculus book perfect for self-study. It will open up the ideas of the calculus for any 16- to 18-year-old, about to begin studies in mathematics, and will be useful for anyone who would like to see a different account of the calculus from that given in the standard texts. In a lively and easy-to-read style, Professor Koerner uses approximation and estimates in a way that will easily merge into the standard development of analysis. By using Taylor's theorem with error bounds he is able to discuss topics that are rarely covered at this introductory level. This book describes important and interesting ideas in a way that will enthuse a new generation of mathematicians.

Many books in linear algebra focus purely on getting students through exams, but this text explains both the how and the why of linear algebra and enables students to begin thinking like mathematicians. The author demonstrates how different topics (geometry, abstract algebra, numerical analysis, physics) make use of vectors in different ways and how these ways are connected, preparing students for further work in these areas. The book is packed with hundreds of exercises ranging from the routine to the challenging. Sketch solutions of the easier exercises are available online.

Celebrating 100 years in print with Cambridge, this newly updated edition includes a foreword by T. W. Korner, describing the huge influence the book has had on the teaching and development of mathematics worldwide. There are few textbooks in mathematics as well-known as Hardy's Pure Mathematics. Since its publication in 1908, this classic book has inspired successive generations of budding mathematicians at the beginning of their undergraduate courses. In its pages, Hardy combines the enthusiasm of the missionary with the rigor of the purist in his exposition of the fundamental ideas of the differential and integral calculus, of the properties of infinite series and of other topics involving the notion of limit. Hardy's presentation of mathematical analysis is as valid today as when first written: students will find that his economical and energetic style of presentation is one that modern authors rarely come close to.