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Chicagoundergraduatemathematics bibliography
SomehowIbecamethecanonicalundergraduatesourceforbibliographicalreferences,soIthoughtIwould leavealistbehindbeforeIgraduated.IlistthebooksIhavefoundusefulinmywanderingsthrough mathematics(inafewcases,thoseIfoundespeciallyunuseful),andgiveshortdescriptionsand comparisonswithineachcategory.Ihopethatthislistmayserveasausefulroadmaptoother undergraduatespickingtheirwaythroughEckhartLibrary.Intheend,ofcourse,youmustexploreonyour ownbutthelistmaysaveyouafewdayswastedreadingbooksatthewronglevelorwiththewrong emphasis. Thelistisbiasedintwosenses.One,itislightonfoundationsandappliedareas,andheavy(especiallyin theadvancedsection)ongeometryandtopologythisisaconsequenceofmyinterests.Iwelcomeadditions frompeopleinterestedinotherfields.Two,andmoreseriously,Iamanhonorstrackstudentandthelist reflectsthat.Idon'tlistanyregularanalysisoralgebratexts,forinstance,becauseIreallydisliketheones I'veseen.Ifyouarea203studentlookingforanalternativetotheawfulpinkbook(Marsden/Hoffman), youwillfindafewheretheyareallmuchclearer,betterbooks,butnonearenearlyasgentle.Iknowthat bangingone'sheadagainstamoredifficulttextisnotarealisticoptionformoststudentsinthisposition.On theotherhand,readingmathematicscan'tbetaught,andithastobelearnedsometime.Maybeit'sbetterto getusedtofrustrationasawayoflifesooner,ratherthanlater.Idon'tknow. Reviewsnotmarkedwithinitials,ormarkedwith[CJ],werewrittenbyme,ChrisJeris('98).Other contributorsaremarked:[PC],PeteClark('98)[PS],PeteStorm('98)[BB],BenBlander('98)[RV], RebeccaVirnig('00)[BR],BenRecht('00)[MG],MarciGambrell('99)[YU],YukaUmemoto('97). Thankstoallofthemfortheirinput. Jumptotheelementary,intermediate,oradvancedsections. Warning:StatementsaboutbooksIhaven'tlookedatinacoupleofyearsmaybefactuallyincorrectplease forgivemyspottymemory.Idon'tthinkIhaveanyreallyegregiousfalsehoodsinhere.Iapologizeforthe appearanceofthispagemostwebbrowsershavenotyetbeenupdatedtohandletheHTML4entityset,so foolslikemewhoreadthedefinitionwriteuglylookingpages. Enoughapologia.Herewego:

ELEMENTARY
Thisincludeshighschooltopicsandfirstyearcalculus.

Contents
Algebra(4)

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Geometry(2) Foundations(1) Problemsolving(4) Calculus(6) Bridgestointermediatetopics(2)

Algebra
Gelfand/Shen,Algebra Gelfand/Glagoleva/Shnol,Functionsandgraphs Gelfand/Glagoleva/Kirillov,Themethodofcoordinates ThesethreelittlewhitebookscomefromtheSovietcorrespondenceschoolinmathematics,runbyI.M. GelfandforinterestedpeopleofallagesinthefurtherreachesoftheUSSR.Ratherthantryingtobe artificiallydowntoearthinthewayAmericansdo,Gelfandsimplyassumesthatyoucanunderstandthe mathematicsasit'sdone(andavoidstheformalcomplexitiesmathematiciansareinuredto).YSPand SESAMEgivetheseoutbythecarloadtotheirstudents,whomostlylovethem.TMoCisnotableforits intriguingfouraxisschemeformakingflatgraphsofR^4.Overallafresh,inspiringlookattopicswetake forgranted,andagoodthingtorecommendtobrightyoungerstudentsorfriends(orparents!) Cohen,Precalculuswithunitcircletrigonometry [RV]Iusedthisbookinhighschoolandabsolutelylovedit.It'sveryskimpyonproofs,andreallyshould notbeusedforthatsortofinsight.However,intermsofunderstandinghowtoapplyvariousmathematical conceptsit'swonderful.Ithasalargenumberofgraphs,examples,andeasyreferencetables.Itcoversall thealgebra,trig,andcartesiangeometrythatanygoodhighschoolmathsequenceshoulddealwith.Ihave useditforyearsasareferencebook(e.g.,whatexactlyisCramer'sruleagain...)Solutionstoanumberof theproblemsareintheback,andtheproblemsarenotentirelyapplications.

Geometry
Euclid,Theelements No,I'mnotkidding.Atfirstit'sincrediblyannoyingandtedioustoread,butafterawhileyougetintothe flowofthelanguageandthestyle.Euclidteachesyouboththepowerofthemodernalgebraicmethodsand thethingsthatarehiddenbyourinstincttoassignanumbertoalength.Besides,therearewonderfultidbits hereandthere(didyouknowthatEuclidinventedtheDedekindcut?).Atleastcheckitoutonce,toread hisproofofthePythagoreantheorem.(ThankstoJonathanBeere('95)forconvincingmeitwas worthwhile.) [PC]IhaveVolumeI,andIhavetoadmitIhaven'treallyreadit.IdothinkthatIwouldbenefitifsomeone

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rammedsomeofitdownmythroatthough,becausenowadaysweundergraduatesaretrainedtoregard geometricasastrongpejorativetheveryantithesisofrigorandproof. Coxeter,Geometryrevisited ThisisatextonadvancedEuclideangeometry,startingwiththenumberlessclassicalcentersofa triangleandproceedingfromthere.Manygoodexercises.Therearelotsofcollegegeometrytextsyou canfindthisstuffin,butmostofthemareaimedatmathedmajorsthisbookandCoxeter'sotherone(see below)havethemallbeat. [PC]Ilikethisbook.Idon'townitbutI'veflippedthroughitmorethanonceandIagreethatithasa pleasantlynonbraindeadqualitytoit.Thereareinterestinggeometricfactsthatyouprobablyhaven'tseen beforeinhere.

Foundations
Rucker,Infinityandthemind [RV]Thisisnotreallyamathbook.Itisafriendlyintroductiontotheconceptofinfinity,transfinite numbers,andrelatedparadoxes.I'drecommendittohighschoolstudentswhoareintrestedinmath,butnot quitereadytositdownandreadthoughproofafterproofoftheorems.(Infact,Ifirstreaditinhighschool aspartofanindependentstudymathclass.)Thebookdoescontainsomeproofs,butnotintherigorous formofastandardmathtext.Itdoesincludemorehistoricalbackgroundontheconceptsthanmostmath textsdo,whichisnice.Eachchapterisaccompaniedbyproblems,andananswerkey(withexplanations) isattheendofthebook.

Problemsolving(precollege)
NMLproblembooks TheMAApublishesaseriescalledNewMathematicalLibrarywhichcontainsmanyexcellenttitles aimedatorbelowcollegesophomorelevel(Geometryrevisitedisamongthem).Inthisseriesarefour booksofproblemsgivenontheAHSME,oneofUSAMOandtwoofIMOproblems,allwithsolutions. WeusetheAHSMEbooksextensivelyatYSPtheUSAMOandIMOproblemsstillgivemearough time,andarefunifyou'relookingforfrustrationoneevening. Larson,Problemsolvingthroughproblems AfteryougrapplewiththeIMOproblemsforawhile,turnheretofindabookthatteaches(asmuchasany bookcan)theartofsolvingthem.Cognitivestrategiesarelaidoutwithexamplesofproblems(mostlyfrom OlympiadsandPutnams)towhichtheyapply. [PC]Iownthis,oratleastIdidIhaven'tseenitsincehighschool.I'mreallynotabigcontestproblem solver,butIdidusethisbookandIthinkithelpedtopreparemeforChicagoMathematics.Lotsofgood

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problems,notalloftheminane. Plya,Howtosolveit Ihaven'treadthis,butit'ssupposedtobetheclassicversionofLarsonabove. Plya,Mathematicsandplausiblereasoning,IandII [PC]ThesearethesequelstoPlya'sHowtosolveit.Theyaredefinitelyinteresting,althoughtheirmain interestmaybepsychological/philosophical(onlyrelativetomathematicsdophilosophyandpsychology merge!)I'mnotsurethatonecanreallybecomeasignificantlybetterproblemsolverbyreadingabook aboutthenatureofmathematicalreasoning,butIadmirePlyaforwritinganinterestingandchallenging bookaboutthepracticeofmathematicssuchbooksareinmyopiniontoofewandfarbetween. In199798afewbookswiththesamegeneralthemeasLarson,butdifferentproblemcollections,have beenpublishedIhaven'tseenanyofthem.

Calculus
Ofcourse,asweallknow,theOneTrueCalculusBookis Spivak,Calculus Thisisabookeveryoneshouldread.Ifyoudon'tknowcalculusandhavethetime,readitanddoallthe exercises.Parts1and2arewhereIfinallylearnedwhatalimitwas,afterthreeyearsofbadcalculusbook explanations.Thewholethingisthemostcoherentlyenvisionedandexplainedtreatmentofonevariable calculusI'veseen(youcanseethroughoutthatSpivakhasavisionofwhathe'stryingtoteach). Thebookhasflaws,ofcourse.TheexercisesgetalittlemonotonousbecauseSpivakhasafewtrickshe likestouserepeatedly,andperhapstoofewofthemdealwithapplications(butyoucanfindthatkindof exerciseinanybook).Also,hesometimesavoidssophisticationattheexpenseofclarity,asintheproofsof ThreeHardTheoremsinchapter8(wherealotofepsilonpushingtakestheplaceofthewordscompact andconnected).Nevertheless,thisisthebestcalculusbookoverall,andI'veseenitdoawonderfuljobof brainrectificationonmanypeople. [PC]Yes,it'sgood,althoughperhapsmoreoftheaffectioncomesfrommoreadvancedstudentswhoflip backthroughit?Mostofmyexposuretothisbookcomesfromtutoringandgradingfor161,butIseriously believethatworkingasmanyproblemsaspossible(itmustbeacknowledgedthatmanyofthemare difficultforfirstyearstudents,andafewofthemarereallyhard!)isinvaluablefordevelopingthe mathematicalmaturityandepsilonictechniquethatnomathmajorshouldbewithout. Othercalculusbooksworthyofnote,andwhy: Spivak,Thehitchhiker'sguidetocalculus

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Justwhatthetitlesays.Ihaven'treadit,butalotof130sstudentsloveit. Hardy,Acourseofpuremathematics Courant,Differentialandintegralcalculus Thesetwoareforculture.Theyareclassictreatmentsofthecalculus,frombackwhenamathbookwas rigorous,period.Hardyfocusesmoreonconceptualeleganceanddevelopment(beginningbybuildingup R).Courantgoesfurtherintoapplicationsthanisusual(includingasmuchaboutFourieranalysisasyou candowithoutLebesgueintegration).They'reold,andoldbooksarehardtoread,butusuallyworthit. (RememberwhatAbelsaidaboutreadingthemastersandnotthepupils!) Apostol,Calculus Thisistheothermodernrigorouscalculustext.Readslikeanupperleveltext:lemmatheoremproof corollary.Drybutcomprehensive(thesecondvolumeincludesmultivariablecalculus). Janusz,Calculus Theworstcalculusbookeverwritten.Thiswasthe150stextin199495ittriestogiveaSpivakstyle rigorouspresentationincolorfulmainstreamcalculusbookformatandreadinglevel.Horrible.Takealook atittoseehowbadlywrittenamathematicsbookcanbe.

Bridgestointermediatetopics
SpringerVerlaghasjustbegunanewseriesoftextsdesignedtobringstudentsgentlyintotherealmof abstractmathematics.Whilethereisnoshortageofsuchbooks,theseseembetterthanaverage pedagogicallytheyareallquitetalky,includecompletesolutionstoallexercises,andcoversensible(as opposedtotraditional)setsoftopics.TheseriesiscalledSUMS,forSpringerUndergraduateMathematics Series.Twosofarseemnoteworthy:Smith,Introductiontomathematics:algebraandanalysisand Johnson,Introductiontologicvianumbersandsets.Givethemalook.

INTERMEDIATE
Roughly,generalratherthanspecializedtextsinhighermathematics.Iwouldnothesitatetorecommend anybookheretohonorssecondyears,buttheymightnotfindeasygoinginsomeofthem.

Contents
Foundations(5) Generalabstractalgebra(7) Linearalgebra(3)

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Numbertheory(5) Combinatoricsanddiscretemathematics(1) Realanalysis(10) Multivariablecalculus(2) Complexanalysis(5) Differentialequations(2) Pointsettopology(5) Differentialgeometry(4) Classicalgeometry(3)

Foundations
Halmos,Naivesettheory Thebestbookforafirstencounterwithrealsettheory.LikeeverythingPaulHalmoswrites,it's stylisticallybeautiful.Averyskinnybook,brokenintoveryshortsections,eachdealingwithanarrow topicandwithanexerciseorthree.Itrequiresjustalittlesophistication,butnogreatexperiencewithreal mathweusethisoneforYSPkidssometimestoo. Fraenkel,Abstractsettheory FraenkelwastheFinZFC,andhegivesasuitablyrigorousdevelopmentofsettheoryfromanaxiomatic viewpoint.Unfortunately,forthephilosophicalfoundationsoftheaxiomshereferstoanotherbook (FraenkelandBarHillel,Foundationsofsettheory),whichismissingfromEckhartLibrary.Goodfor culture. Ebbinghaus/Flum/Thomas,Mathematicallogic TheonlylogicbookIcannameoffthetopofmyhead,thisisthe277book.Ifounditreadablebut boringlysyntactic(well,maybethat'selementarylogic). Enderton,Amathematicalintroductiontologic Look,anotherlogicbook!Thisonemightbepreferablejustbecausethere'smuchmoretalkingabout what'sgoingonandlessunmotivatedsymbolpushingthaninE/F/T.Theflipsideofthatis,the constructionsmayormaynotbeepsilonlessprecise.I'mnotalogicianifyouare,writesomereviewssoI canreplacetheselousyones! Landau,Foundationsofanalysis ThisisthebookthatinventedtheinfamousLandauSatzBeweis(theoremproof)style.Thereisnothing inthisbookexcepttheinexorableprogressionoftheoremsandproofs,whichisperhapsappropriatefora constructionoftherealnumbersfromnothing,butmakeshorriblebathroomreading.Readforculture.

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Generalabstractalgebra
Thesituationhereisproblematic,becausetherearemanygoodbookswhicharejustalittlehardtoswallow foranaverage257student,butpreciousfewgoodonesbelowthat.Butyoulearnbydoing,soherewego:

(Difficulty:moderate)
Dummit/Foote,Abstractalgebra [PC]Iboughtthisfor257IwasattheagewhereIuncriticallyboughtallassignedtexts(actually,Imay stillbeatthatageIdon'trecallpassingonbuyinganycoursetextsrecently),butasChrisknowsthejoke wasonme,sinceweusedtheinstructor'slecturenotesandnotDummit/Footeatall.SoIdidn'treallyread itthatmuchatthetime.Ihavereaditsince,sinceitisoneoftwogeneralabstractalgebrabooksinmy collection.Ithinkit'sanexcellentundergraduatereferenceinthatithassomethingtosay,andoftenalotto say,aboutpreciselyeverythingthatanundergraduatewouldeverrunintoinanalgebraclassandI'mnot evenexaggerating.Iwouldsaythisisagoodbooktohaveonyourshelfifyou'reanundergraduate becauseyoucanlookupanythingIuseditthisfallasasolidsupplementaryreferenceforcharactertheory toAlperinandBell'sGroupsandrepresentations,andithadanamazingamountofmaterial,allclearly explained.[Warning:thereisanincorrectentryinoneofthecharactertablesit'seitherA_5orS_5,Ican't rememberwhich.]Lookelsewhere,particularlybelow,foragoodexpositionofmodulesoveraprincipal idealdomainD/F'sexpositionisconvolutedandoverlylengthy.Infact,overallIwouldusethisbookasa referenceinsteadofaprimarytext,becausetheideaofreadingitthroughfromstarttofinishscaresme.It alsohasmany,manygoodproblemswhichdevelopevenmoretopics(e.g.,commutativealgebraand algebraicgeometry). Herstein,Topicsinalgebra Thisisaclassictextbyoneofthemasters.Hersteinhasbeautifulandelementarytreatmentsofgroupsand linearalgebra(inthecontextofmoduletheory).Butthereisnofieldtheory,andhewritesmappingsonthe right,whichannoysmanypeople.Sometimeshesuffersfromthesameflawofexcessiveelementarityas Spivak'scalculusbook,butoverallthetreatmentisquitepretty.Manygoodexercises.(Nottobeconfused withAbstractalgebra,whichisamuchcutversionfornonhonorsclasses.) [PC]ButthisisthebookIwoulduseifIwereawellpreparedundergraduatewantingtolearnabstract algebraforthefirsttime.Wonderfulexpositionclean,chattybutnotlongwinded,informalandavery efficientcoverageofjustthemostimportanttopicsofundergraduatealgebra.Thinkofitasaslimmed downD/F.Nofieldtheoryiscertainlyanexaggerationtheexpositionthereisquitebrief,andthe restrictiontofieldsofcharacteristiczeroobscuresthefactthatmuchofthetheorypresented,includingthe Galoistheory,isthetheoryofseparablefieldextensions,butevenso,thisisstillthebookIopenfirstto remindmyselfabouttheGaloistheoryI'msupposedtoknow.Thelastmainchapterofthebookisquite lengthyandtreatslinearalgebraandcanonicalformsindetail,whichisoneofthebook'sstrongestfeatures. Also,therearemanysupplementarytopicsmaybeHersteinreallydoesn'tlikefieldtheory,sinceheinserts asectiononthetranscendenceofeearlyoninhisfieldtheorychapterassomethingofabreatherbut there'slotsofgoodstufftowarmtheheartofsomeonewholikestoseehisalgebraappliedtoactualstuff, especiallynumbertheoreticstuffthefamedTwoandFourSquaresTheoremsarebothprovedinhere!

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Artin,Algebra Artin'sbookisanontraditionalapproachtoundergraduatealgebra,emphasizingconcretecomputational examplesheavilythroughout.Accordingly,linearalgebraandmatrixgroupsoccupythefirstpartofthe book,andthetraditionalgroupringfieldtroikacomeslater.Thisapproachhastheadvantageofproviding manynontrivialexamplesofthegeneraltheories,butyoumaynotwanttowaitthatlongtogetthere. Supposedtobewellwritten,thoughIhaven'treaditthoroughly.

(Difficulty:higher)
Jacobson,BasicalgebraI Jacobsonwasmyfirstrealalgebrabook,andIretainanaffectionforit.Thebookisverydenselywritten, andhisprosehasitsownbeautybutisdifficulttogetmuchfromatfirst.Theselectionoftopicsis interesting:chapters14covergroups,rings,modules,fields(modulesinthelinearalgebrasense,thatis, overprincipalidealdomains),whilechapters58coverextensiontopicsnotusuallyfoundingeneraltexts. Hedeliberatelyavoidsmodernistabstraction,preferringanexplicitconstructiontoauniversalpropertyand acommutativediagram(althoughtheuniversalpropertyisfrequentlygiven),andthiscomplicateshis notationandproseattimes,especiallyinthemodulechapter.Thefieldtheorychapterisfantastic.Someof theexercisesaredeliberatelytoohard. Hungerford,Algebra Manypeoplelikethisbook,butIdon't.Hungerfordcoversthestandardtopicsfromgroup,ring,module, andfieldtheory,withalittleadditionalcommutativeringtheoryandtheWedderburntheoryofalgebras. Thefieldtheorychapterishorrible,andtherestofthebookisokaybutdoesn'texciteme.(Andthe typesettingisbad.) Lang,Algebra Well,doyoulikeSergeLangbooks,ornot?LikeeveryotherSergeLangbook,thisoneis uncompromisinglymodern,wonderfullycomprehensive,andunpleasantlydryandtedioustoread.Unlike mostotherSergeLangbooks,thisonehasexercises,atleast. MacLane/Birkhoff,Algebra Ikeeprecommendingthisbooktopeoplebecauseit'stheonlyhardonewhosecontentscorrespondwellto the25789syllabus,andalsobecauseIlikeMacLane'streatmentoflinearandmultilinearalgebra.Mac LaneandLangaretheonlybooksinthisgroupwhichtreatmultilinear(tensor)algebraatall,andbelieve me,you'llneediteventually.WorthalooktoseewhetheryoufindMacLane'sstylecongenial.Nottobe confusedwithBirkhoff/MacLane,Asurveyofmodernalgebra(amuchshorterandeasierbook). [BR]IusedMacLane/Birkhoff'sbookprettyheavilyinMath257and258.UnlikemostalgebrabooksI've seen,theydon'tputallthegrouptheoryatthebeginningandallofthefieldtheoryattheend,butpreferto developeachtopicalittlebitatatimeandthendevelopitwithmoredepthlater.Asaresult,thisbookis

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hardtouseasareference.Youcan'tgetpastringswithouttacklingcategoriesanduniversalconstructions whichareusedheavilythroughouttheremainderofthetext.However,theirtreatmentofcategorical algebraisoneofthemorereadableintroductionstothetheoryI'vecomeacross.

Linearalgebra
Halmos,Finitedimensionalvectorspaces Thisisalinearalgebrabookwrittenbyafunctionalanalyst,andthecruxofthebookisatreatmentofthe spectraltheoremforselfadjointoperatorsinthefinitedimensionalcase.It'sabeautiful,wonderfulbook, butnotaverygoodreferencefortraditionallinearalgebratopicsorapplications.Youalsohavetoreada fairdistancebeforeyouevenseealinearmap,andtheexercisesaremostlytooeasy,withafewtoohard. ButthisbookwaswhereIfirstlearnedabouttensorproducts,andwhythematrixelementsgothewaythey doandnottheotherway(Halmosisverycarefulonthispoint). [PC]Iownthisbookandreadthroughitoften,butit'snevertaughtmelinearalgebraperse.Let'sagree thatit'stooabstractforareasonablefirstintroductiontolinearalgebrait'sreallymeantforstudentswho alreadyknow(some)linearalgebratoreadthroughandappreciateoneparticular,andparticularlyelegant, presentationofthematerial.Ifyouwanttoknowaboutthelinearalgebrawhichsurroundsfunctional analysis,thenbyallmeansreadthisbook,butmuchofthematerialisnonstandardandabitcuriousfrom theperspectiveofmainstreamlinearalgebraprojectionsseemtobethemostimportantlinearmap,and therearemanysectionslovinglydevotedtocommutingprojections,decomposingprojections,etc.Istillam notsurewhyHalmosdeifiesthe[,]asmuchashedoes,andquitehonestly,Iwouldlearnmultilinear algebraanywherebuthere. Curtis,Abstractlinearalgebra Ifyoucanstandterribletypesettingandanunexcitingprosestyle,thistinylittlebookisagoodrigorous referencefortraditionallinearalgebra(i.e.,itdoesn'tassumeyou'reatree).Anicebonusattheendisthe WedderburntheoremfordivisionalgebrasoverR,althoughthelackofsophisticationmakesforsome unmotivatedtechnicalcarpentry.IlookinherewheneverIcan'trememberwhatapositivedefinitematrix is. Greub,LinearalgebraandMultilinearalgebra YoumayneverneedTheBookonlinearalgebra.Butoneday,youmayjusthavetoknowfifteendifferent waystodecomposealinearmapintopartswithdifferentniceproperties.Onthatday,yourchoicesare GreubandBourbaki.Greubiseasiertocarry.Endofstory.

Numbertheory
Ireland/Rosen,Aclassicalintroductiontomodernnumbertheory Thefirsthalfisacoherent,systematicdevelopmentofelementarynumbertheory,assumingthebasicsof

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algebra.Inthesecondhalftheauthorsexploremoreadvancedtopicsofanalgebraic/geometricflavor(zeta functions,Lfunctions,algebraicnumberfields,ellipticcurves).Lotsofexercises.Thisbookhelpedmake numbertheorymakesensetome.YouwillfindmanyintroductorynumbertheorytextspitchedbelowI/R, butifyoucanreadI/R,ignoretheeasyones. [PC]Yes,thisisthestandardandtomyknowledgethebestnumbertheorytextthatismodern,broad,and reasonablyelementary.It'sastrangebookinthatit'sreallynotwrittenatanyonelevelifyou'veheardof somethingcalleduniquefactorization,you'llfindthefirstfewchapterseasygoingmaterial,butthealgebraic sophisticationrisesslowlybutsurelythroughoutthebook.Eventuallyyouneedtobecomfortablewith rings,fieldsandGaloistheoryattheundergraduatelevel,buttheytellyouatthebeginningofthechapter whentheyrequiremorebackgroundthanbefore.There'sanawfullotinherethiswasmycoursetextfor Math242andIuseditasoneofthetextsinareadingclassonnumbertheory,andIstillhaven'tread throughallthechapters.It'sagreatexampleofabookinwhichtheauthorshavetriedandsucceededin bringingadvancedmaterialdowntotheundergraduatelevel.Somegoodhistoricalnotes,asanyself respectingnumbertheorytextshouldcontain.Recommendedhighly. Burn,Apathwayintonumbertheory [BB]Thebookiscomposedentirelyofexercisesleadingthereaderthroughalltheelementarytheoremsof numbertheory.Canbetedious(yougettoverify,say,Fermat'slittletheoremformaybe5differentsetsof numbers)butagoodwaytoreallyworkthroughthebeginningsofthesubjectonone'sown. Hardy/Wright,Introductiontonumbertheory Thisistheclassic,andHardyisoneofthegreatexpositorywritersofmathematics.However,Iremember thatthelasttimeIlookedatthisbookitmadenosensetome.Ifyoulikenumbertheoryyoushould probablyatleastlookatit. [PC]Oh,hereImustferventlydisagree(well,okay,maybeitdidn'tmakesensetoyouatthetime,but pleasegoaheadandlookagain).Isaythatanystudentofmathematicsshouldhavethisbookontheirshelf. Here'sH/W'sgame:theyexplainnumbertheorytopeoplewhocanfollowmathematicalproofsbuthaveno priorexposuretothesubjectoranyadvancedmachinerywhatsoeverhmm,maybealittlecalculusat times,butnotalways.Theonethingtheydouseisalittleasymptoticgrowthnotation,i.e.,O,o,andthe squigglyline,andforsomereasontheyassumethatpeoplewillknowallaboutthiswithoutmuch comment.Iseemtorecallthatonechaptertowardsthebeginningisconfusingbecauseofthis,andwhenI firstboughtthebookitstymiedme(Iwassixteenatthetime).Butit'swrittensothatyoudon'thavetoread itinorder:theydevelopjustenoughtheoryaboutalmosteverybranchof(elementary)numbertheoryso thatyoucanseeinterestingtheoremsproved.Ihavejumpedaroundalot,butovertheyearsIthinkI've readalmosteverychapter.Ireallythinkit'sthe#1culturalenrichmentbookformathstudents. Chandrasekharan,Analyticnumbertheory [PC]RecommendedtomebynoneotherthanProfessorNarasimhanhimself,it'sactuallyavery elementaryandreadableintroductiontotheclassictheoremsofanalyticnumbertheory:Chebyshev's Theorem,Bertrand'sPostulate,uniformdistribution,Dirichlet'sTheoremandthePrimeNumberTheorem. Requiresepsilonicsandjustalittlebitofcomplexfunctiontheory.

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Apostol,Introductiontoanalyticnumbertheory [PC]Ifyou'vebeenreadingthislist,youknowfromChristhatApostolwritesterriblydrybooks.I've neverreadanythingbyhimbutthisone,andit'sfine,abitmoreelementarythanChandrasekharanand easiertogetyourhandson(ApostolisaUTMChandrasekharanisanoutofprintSpringerinternational edition).Itstartsoutwithaniceintroductiontoarithmeticfunctions,includingtheconvolutionproduct,and itcoversmuchthesameastheabove,onlyabitlessbriskly.Aquickroutetotheproofsofthegreatest theoremsof19thcenturymathematics.

Combinatoricsanddiscretemathematics
Graham/Knuth/Patashnik,Concretemathematics ThefirstchapterofKnuth'simmortalworkTheartofcomputerprogrammingisanextensivestudyof combinatoricsandasymptotics.G/K/Pisanexpandedandfriendlierversion,whichemphasizesteaching thereadertosolvethings,ratherthanjustshowinghowtheyaredone.Containsmanyfunnymarginalnotes fromstudentsintheStanfordclasswhichgavebirthtothebook,aswellastonsofgreatexercises.Nota referencework.

Realanalysis
(Elementarylevel:metricspaces,continuity,differentiation)
Rudin,Principlesofmathematicalanalysis Thefirsteightchaptersofthislittlebookformthebest,cleanestexpositionofelementaryrealanalysisI knowof,althoughfewUCreaderswillhavemuchuseforthechapteronRiemannStieltjesintegration. LikeRudin'sotherbooks,itisbrokenintobitesizepieces,soyoucanproveeverystatementinthebookon yourownifyou'reselfstudying.Ifthatisn'tenough,thereisalargecollectionofchallengingexercises. SomepeoplethinkRudinistooskinnyandstreamlined,butIthinkit'sbeautiful.(Ignorechapters9and10, whichareaconfusingandinsufficientlymotivateddevelopmentofmultivariablecalculus.Chapter11isall rightforLebesgueintegration,buttherearebettertreatmentselsewhere.) [PC]Iagree100%withwhatChrissays,butIwanttoaddmyvoicethatthisis(throughchapter8)the cleanestexpositionIhaveeverseen.Istillflipbacktothistocheckthingsout. [BR]ImustinsistthatChapters9and10arenotTHATbad.They'reworthrevisitingifyouaretiredof SpivakanddoCarmo. Apostol,Mathematicalanalysis CoversthesamematerialasRudin,plusalittlecomplexanalysis.Apostolassumes(hence,engenders)less maturityonthereader'spart,writingmostargumentsoutinadvancedcalculusdetailratherthanreal analysisdetail,ifthatmakessense.Ifinditterriblydry.Neverthelessthebookiscarefuland

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comprehensive,withmanyexercises. Gelbaum/Olmsted,Counterexamplesinanalysis Thislittlebookcontainsalonglistofexamples,ofstrangeobjectswhichcontradictthethingsthatyou thinkshouldbetruebutaren't.Itstartsoffataveryelementarylevelandgraduallybuildsuptoincludethe LebesguetheoryandR^n.Agoodthingtohavearoundonyourfirstorsecondtripthroughanalysis.

(Intermediatelevel:normedspaces,Lebesgueintegration)
Kolmogorov/Fomin,Introductoryrealanalysis WhenIstarted207Icouldn'tseewhythematerialofthisbookwasanalysis:herewassettheory,some linearalgebra,somestuffaboutnormedlinearspaces,alittlefunctionalanalysis...oh,here'sthatcool integraleveryonetalksabout,butwherearethederivatives?NowIknowwhyit'sanalysis,ofcourse,but thebookasawholeisstillaperplexingbeasttotheinexperienced.Ithinktheprimaryreasonitremainsa textfor207isthatitcosts$13,sowhynot?ThestyleisdistinctivelyRussian,whichputsmeoffbutturns otherpeopleon.Extendedapplicationsappearoccasionallytolendcontext,butonthewholethereislittle motivation(andfewexercises).Thebookisalsodifficulttouseasareferencework,becausetheauthors developonlytheresultstheyneedtogetwherethey'regoing. [PC]Agreed.Butit'scheapandthoughyoumaywonderwhyyou'relearningsomuchfunctionalanalysis beforeyouseeaLebesgueintegral,it'sstillclearandeasytoread,sothere'snoreasonwhyyoushouldn't ownit. Haaser/Sullivan,Realanalysis CoversthesamematerialasK/F,withtheadditionofachapterrelatingdifferentiationtoLebesgue integration(thefundamentaltheoremsofcalculus).H/SusetheDaniellintegralratherthanK/F'sconcrete, barehandsconstructionofLebesguemeasureit'sprobablygoodtodoitbyhandonce,butafterthatforget it.ThesequenceoftopicsmakesalittlemoresensethanK/F,althoughthechapteroninnerproductspaces islonelyattheend,whereitlivesbecausetheywanttodoFourierseries.Butthebookiswritteninaho humstyle,andtheexercisesaretooeasy.InthisH/Ssharestheflawofmanybooksatthislevel,ofmaking toobigadealofalittlebitofabstractionwhichmightbenewtothereader.IwentstraightfromlittleRudin tobigRudinwithoutmuchofastopforeitherofthesebooks. Hewitt/Stromberg,Realandabstractanalysis Thisisanold,classicbookwhichisworthalook.Theydevelopmanyconcreteclassicaltopics(allthose thingslikeLegendrepolynomialsthatyouwerealwayscuriousabout)asexercises. Dieudonn,Foundationsofmodernanalysis Thisbookisastrangebird,thefirstvolumeofanine(!)volumetreatisebyoneoftheoriginalBourbakistes. Ican'treallydescribeitexcepttosaythatit'sveryformalistic,ithasmanygoodexercises,it'sveryhardto

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relatetoothertreatmentsofthesubject,anditmadeabigimpressiononme.

(Graduatelevel:measuretheory,basicfunctionalanalysis)
Rudin,Realandcomplexanalysis Thefirsthalfisthestandardreferenceforrealanalysis(thesecondhalfisreviewedbelow).It'saveryclean treatmentofthetopicsitcovers,againinbitesizepiecesandwithmanychallengingexercises.SometimesI getfrustratedwiththelackofmotivation,orwithRudin'shabitofprovingexactlythelemmasheneedsto dosomething,withoutanycontextfortheresults.Neverthelessit'sagoodreferenceorselfstudybook. Topics:IntegrationandL^pspaces,BanachandHilbertspaces,RadonNikodymtheoremand differentiation,Fubini'stheorem,Fouriertransforms. [PC]Yes,howwonderfulthatthere'sonebookwhosefirsthalfcontainsalltheanalysisthatyou'llever needtoknow!Thisbookisadvancedandtheexpositionisaustere(whichgives(5).Applying(3)to(4), weget(6))butitisabsolutelycrystallineinitsclarity(exception:isitsproofoftheL^2inversiontheorem forFouriertransformsvalid?I'mnotsosure.)Isn'tthistheonemathbookthateverystudentmustbuy soonerorlater(asidefromHardyandWright,ofcourse)?Somerainydayyou'lldiscoverthatthebookhas asecondhalfandfindsomeveryinterestingtheoremsinthere,butdon'tconfuseitwithacourseon complexanalysis,becauseit'saweirdasstreatmentofcomplexanalysisviewedthroughtheeyesofa conventionalanalyst.Thinkofitasabonus. Lang,Realandfunctionalanalysis AnotherSergeLangbook,butaSergeLangbookisabouttheonlyplaceyou'llfindtheinversefunction theoremsystematicallytreatedforBanachspaces(exceptDieudonn,andLangwasaBourbakistetoo). Royden,Realanalysis RoydenislikeHungerfordforme:alotofpeoplelikeit,butitannoysmeforanumberofsemisilly reasons.Hedenotestheemptysetby0(zero)andthezeroelementofavectorspacebylowercasetheta. Heprovesmanytheoremsthreetimesingraduallyincreasinggenerality.Heleaveswholeproofstothe exercises,andthendependsonthemlaterinthetext.AndIdon'tlikehisconstructionofLebesgue integration.(Nyaah,sothere.) [BR]Thisissuchaterriblebook!Heleavesthehardesttheoremstothereaderandprovessomereally simplemindedthingswithtoomuchmachinery.Forexample,heassignstheUrysohnlemmafornormal spacesasanexerciseforthereaderandthenhastousetheBairecategorytheoremtoshowthatonBanach spaces,linearoperatorsarecontinuousifftheycommutewithtakinglimits.Ifyouhavetotake208or272, findasupplementarytext.You'llbehappyyoudid.

Multivariablecalculus
Spivak,Calculusonmanifolds

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ThisisthebookeverybodygetsindifferentiationandintegrationinR^n,andit'saprettygoodone, althoughtheintegrationchaptersarehardtoreadmaybeitwasjustmyfirstencounterwithexterior algebrathatmadeithard.AsusualforSpivakbooks,clearexpositionandlotsofniceexercises. Unfortunatelythisoneisoldenoughtobeannoyinglytypeset. [PC]Idon'treallylikethisbook,andI'mabigfanofSpivakingeneral.Doesanybodyelsethinkthatthis rigorousmultivariableRiemannintegraltheoryisadinosaur?AndwhenSpivakstartstalkingaboutchains (inchapterfour,Ithink),Idon'tknowwhatthehellhe'stalkingabout.Presumablyyoucouldignorethat chapterandusethebookasanintroductiontodifferentialforms.Ican'tsuggestasubstituteatthemoment, otherthanSpivak'sComprehensiveintroductionvolume1,whichisawonderfulbookbutwhichIstill wouldn'twanttoreadasafirstintroductiontoforms.Cometothinkofit,Iloveformstodeath,butmaybe they'rejustplainconfusingthefirsttimearound... doCarmo,Differentialformsandapplications ThisskinnyyellowbookhasreplacedMunkres'sAnalysisonmanifoldsasthetextfor274,andI'mnotsure it'sanimprovement.It'smorelikeamodernizedCalculusonmanifolds.Ihaven'tdonemorethanglance throughit,butthenotationisreputedlyhorrible,andSpivakisdefinitelyasuperiorexpositor.

Complexanalysis
Ahlfors,Complexanalysis Ahlforshasbeenthestandardtextforcomplexfunctiontheoryforquitesometime.Ilikeit,buthe'svery classicalandconcreteinoutlook:naryafunctionspaceoranorminthewholebook.Theexpositionisa classic,though. [PC]Everyonelistsitdopeopleactuallyreadit?I'duseConwayinstead. Conway,FunctionsofonecomplexvariableI Thisbookstartsvery,veryslowandeasy,soifyou'rerustyonmetricspacesorrealvariabletheoryyou havenoneedtoworry.Conway'sstyleistoprovethingsverythoroughly,butrelegatetheoccasionalproof totheexercises.ThetextismoremodernthanAhlforsConwayprovesRunge'stheoremusingBanach spacetechniques(well,he'sanoperatortheorist).Ilikethebookmoreforthisreason,butIfinallysoldmy copybecausetheslowpacegottome. [PC]Ilikethebook,butIhearyourcriticisms.Thechapteronconvergenceinthecompactopentopology, arguablythemostimportanttopicinthewholebook,ismarredbythefactthathemixesmetricspace theorywhichisperfectlygeneralwiththetheoryofcomplexfunctions.HischapteronRiemannsurfaces sortofannoysmetoo,forthesamereason.Maybejustabitofreorganizationwouldimprovethisbook. Buthecoversallthetheoremsthatanundergraduateneedstoknow(andalittlemore),andhedoesit withoutusingfancymachineryofanysort:nofundamentalgroups,nodifferentialforms,nodeeptheorems fromrealanalysis.[CJ:TheHahnBanachtheoremisn'tadeeptheoremfromrealanalysis?]Still,Ican't helpbutthinkthatthegreatAmericancomplexanalysisbookhasyettobewritten.

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Narasimhan,Complexanalysisinonevariable AswemightexpectfromthefamedfreshmaneatingNarasimhan,thisbookismuchquickerpacedand coversmoretopicsthaneitherofthetwoabove(includingachapteronseveralvariables).Sadly,thereare noexercises,butthebookisagoodreferencework. Rudin,Realandcomplexanalysis Rudin'ssecondhalfisatreatmentofcomplexanalysisevenmoremodernthanConwaybutevenmore resolutelynongeometricthanAhlfors.Ineverreallygotalongwithit,forthesecondreasonalso,the selectionoftopicsafterthecanonicalmaterialfeelsalittlerandom.(Rudin'saimwastobringoutthe unifyingthreadsinrealandcomplexanalysisthusthereisachapteronBanachalgebrasneartheend.) However,thestyleisstillcrystalline,andtheexercisesarestillexcellent.Bestforconfirmedanalysts. Palka,Anintroductiontocomplexfunctiontheory [YU]TheauthorfollowsAhlfors'sapproachandthusthebookisverygeometric.Afterreadingthisbook,I begantolikecomplexfunctiontheory.Itcontainslotsofinterestingexercisesaswellasroutineones.

Differentialequations
Arnold,Ordinarydifferentialequations Yes,Virginia,thereisaninterestinggeometrictheoryofdifferentialequations(ofcourse!),notjustthestuff youseeinthoseengineeringtexts:stuffaboutstableandunstablepointsormanifolds,andotherthingswith adynamicalsystemsflavor.Neverthelessthereissubstantialmaterialonhowtoreduceadifferential equationtolinearformandsolveit,althoughnoLaplacetransformtechniquesorthelike.Arnoldexplains itallcoherentlyatanadvancedcalculuslevel(manifoldsappearattheend),completewithmanybeautiful diagrams.AnotherdistinctivelyRussianbookreadalltheonesIdescribethatway,andyou'llseewhatI mean.Thethirdeditionissubstantiallydifferentfromthesecond(whichIhave):themanifoldsmaterialis muchexpanded,andthetypesettingisnotsonice. Hurewicz,Lecturesonordinarydifferentialequations AtinybookwhichcoversmaterialsimilartoArnold,butmoreconcisely.Ihaven'treaditbutit'sfrequently referenced,andworthalookifyouneedtoknowthebasictheorems.(Ifallyouneedisthebasicexistence uniquenesstheoremforODEs,it'salsoinSpivakvolume1orLang,Realandfunctionalanalysis.)

Pointsettopology
Munkres,Topology:afirstcourse Munkres'sbookisawonderfulfirstencounterwithtopologyinfactitbeginsslowlyenoughtobeafirst encounterwithabstractmathematics(afteratraditionaladvancedcalculuscourse).Everyabstractionis

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carefullymotivated,andtherearetonsofexamples,pictures,andexercises.Thisisoneofthosebooksyou couldhandtoabrightstudentofanyagewhoknewsomecalculus(notabadbooktochooseifyou're comingbacktomathematicsatage35).Mostofthebookisthetraditionalanalysistopologymaterial,but thereisalonglastchapteronthefundamentalgroupwhichcoversenoughtoprovetheJordancurve theorem. [PC]Yes,Munkresdeservestobethestandardundergraduatepointsetbook.Itdoesn'thaveeverything, butithasmostofthestandardtopicsandit'srelentlesslyclear. Willard,Generaltopology ButWillardismytopologybookofchoice.Thelevelofabstractionisdeliberatelyhigher,andthebookis betterorganizedasareferencethanMunkres.It'snotnearlyasfriendly,butit'sstillclearandwellwritten(I thinkanunclearpointsettopologybookisprobablynolongerapointsettopologybook).Willardis probablythebestmodernreferenceforanalysistopology,wheremodernmeansexcludingKelley(see below).Youcanlearnfromittooit'sorganizedbitesizelikeaRudinbook,soyoucanproveallbutthe hardtheoremsonyourown(Ididthiswithaninitialsegment,andlearnedalot). Kelley,Generaltopology [PS]LetmejustsaythatKelley'sbookontopologyishorriblyoldfashionedIknowbecausemyadvisor isforcingmetoreadit.HalfthetopicsarethingswhichIdon'tthinkareasimportantastheyusedtobe. Nets,filters?Iguessthey'reinterestinginandofthemselves.Ontheupside,itdoeshaveaniceappendix coveringtherudimentsofsettheory. [CJ]Itisoldfashioned,butit'sstillthebestbookontopologyforfunctionalanalysis,barnone.Netsare surprisinglynecessaryininfinitedimensionaltopologicalvectorspaces!Theoccasionalproofiseasierto readoncerecastinmodernlanguage,butdoingsoisagoodlearningexerciseanyway.AndKelleyhasthe nicehabit(emulatedlesssuccessfullybyWillard)oftreatingsubstantialpiecesofanalysisasexercisestwo oftheexercisestoChapter2aretitledIntegrationtheory,juniorgradeandIntegrationtheory,utility grade.It'sreallyananalysisbookdisguisedasapointsettopologybook,butthenmuchoffunctional analysisisreallygeneraltopologyonspacesthathappentobevectorspacestoo. Steen/Seebach,Counterexamplesintopology Thisisatopologyanticourse:acollectionofallthescreweduptopologicalspaceswhichprovidelimiting counterexamplestoallthosepointsettopologytheoremswithcomplicatedhypotheses.It'saclassicjustfor thecontent,butprettywellwrittentoo.ThisbookandGelbaum/Olmsted(above)aretwopartsofwhat shouldsomedaybethebigbookofcounterexamplestoeverything.Readitandseejustwhatyouavoidby stickingtodifferentiablemanifolds. [BR]SteenandSeebachhavecatalogued143ofthemostdisgustingpathologicaltopologicalcreatures. Theyareinvaluableforwhenyou'refirstlearningpointsettopologyandneedtounderstandwhythe definitionsarenecessary.Theycanalsocomeinhandyontests:Iusedtheonepointcompactificationofan uncountablediscretespacethreetimesonmyMath262final.Thetextusedfor262,Munkres,relieson threecounterexamplestodisproveeverything:theSorgenfreyline,S_OmegaandIxIinthedictionary

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order.SteenandSeebachletyouknowthattherearetonsofotherbeastlytopologicalspaceswhichviolate thelawsofcommonsense. Dugundji,Topology [YU]Thisisapointsettopologybook.LesselementarythanMunkres,butusefulasareferencebookfor gradstudents.

Differentialgeometry
Guillemin/Pollack,Differentialtopology Ididn'tunderstandtransversalityatalluntilIsawthisbook.It'saverygeometric(asopposedto formalistic),downtoearthintroductiontosomeofthemostmysticalareasofsmoothmanifoldtheory: transversalityandintersectiontheory.Abstractionisavoided(manifoldsaredefinedasembeddedin Euclideanspace,whichannoysmejustabit),butwithouthandwavingimportantdistinctions(theyare carefultopointoutthatfornoncompactmanifolds,aninjectiveimmersionneednotbeanembedding,that is,propertoo).ThelastchaptertreatsintegrationandStokes'stheorem,butthat'snotwhatanyonereadsthe bookfor.Beautifullywritten,andfillsanimportantholeinSpivakvolume1. doCarmo,Differentialgeometryofcurvesandsurfaces WeusedthisbookforCorlette'sdifferentialgeometryseminartwoyearsago(293).Ididn'tlikeitallthat muchbecausedoCarmoiscarefultokeepthebooktoapostadvancedcalculuslevel:everythingtakes placeinR^3,novectorbundles,lotsofcomponentwisecalculations.Neverthelessit'sanicetreatmentof theclassicaltheoryofcurvesandsurfacesinspace.ReaditifyouwanttoknowabouttheGaussmapor thetwofundamentalforms,butdon'twanttoworkallthewaythroughSpivakvolume2. Spivak,Acomprehensiveintroductiontodifferentialgeometry,1 [PC]Volume1isthebestintroductiontosmoothmanifoldtheoryanddifferentialtopologythatIknowof. Everychapterofthisbookhascomeinhandyformeatonetimeoranother.BenandIliketodescribethe bookaslocallyreadable:hisexpositionisverycareful,butsometimeshetakestoodamnlongtoexplain asingleconcept.Luckily,despiteSpivak'seffortstothecontrary,youcanfliparoundandreadchapterby chapter,andIrecommendthis.Thereissomuchgoodstuffinhere. [CJ]Buyitandreaditoverandoverandover.Don'tskiptheexercisesbecausethat'swhereheputsallthe freakyexamples.It'struethatsometimeshetalkstoomuch,butforthelovingdetailinwhichhelaysout difficultconcepts,hecanbeforgiven. Spivak,Acomprehensiveintroductiontodifferentialgeometry,2 AsSpivakputsitatthebeginning,Volume1dealtwiththedifferentialpartinthisvolumewefinallyget downtosomegeometry.Volume2treatstheclassicaltheoryofcurvesandsurfacesusingthemodern

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machinerydevelopedinthefirstvolume,whichmakesit(forme)amorecomfortablereadthandoCarmo. Spivakiscarefultomotivateeverythinghistoricallysurfacetheoryisintroducedbyalongwalkthrough Gauss'sGeneralinvestigationsofcurvedsurfaces(youshouldreallyhaveacopyofittoreadthisbook), andthesecondhalfofthebookgoesthroughthe(convoluted)stagesofevolutionofthedefinitionofa connection.NoteasyreadingbuteverybitasrewardingasVolume1.Unfortunatelytherearealmostnone ofthewonderfulexerciseswhichcharacterizethefirstvolume.

Classicalgeometry
Coxeter,Introductiontogeometry ThisisaninterestingbookwhichIcan'treallydescribe.Itcontainsanumberofshorttreatmentsof undeniablygeometricbutnontraditionaltopicsonefascinatingapplicationistherelationbetween phyllotaxis(thearrangementofplants'leavesaroundthestem)andgeneralizedFibonaccitypenumbers. Readforculture. Hilbert,Foundationsofgeometry Hilbertwasveryinterestedinfindingcoherent,minimalaxiomsystemsforpartsofmathematicshewas probablyinspiredbythelongdebateoverEuclid'sparallelpostulateandthediscoveryinthelate19th centuryofconsistentnonEuclideangeometries.(TheGdelincompletenesstheoremssolvednegatively oneofHilbert'sfamousproblems.)InthisbookHilbertdescribedacorrectandcompleteaxiomsystemfor Euclideangeometry,withthedependencerelationsbetweenaxiomsexhaustivelydetermined,andthen carefullyderivedmostofEuclidfromit.It'snotaparticularlyfunreadbutitsexistenceisphilosophically interesting. Hartshorne,[Euclidrevisitedbook] Thealgebraicgeometerofthefamedbookfromhell(seebelow)recentlyfinishedanothermodernEuclid book.Ihaven'tseenitanddon'tevenrememberthetitle,butitmightbeinteresting.

ADVANCED
Specializedworks,difficultylevelunboundedabove.

Contents
Foundations(1) Problemsolving(1) Generalabstractalgebra(1) Grouptheoryandrepresentations(5) Ringtheory(4)

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Commutativeandhomologicalalgebra(5) Numbertheory(5) Combinatoricsanddiscretemathematics(3) Measuretheory(2) Probability(1) Functionalanalysis(5) Complexanalysis(6) Harmonicanalysis(5) Differentialequations(4) Differentialtopology(3) Algebraictopology(7) Differentialgeometry(6) Geometricmeasuretheory(4) Algebraicgeometry(5)

Foundations
MacLane,Categoriesfortheworkingmathematician PeteClarkisn'tconvincedthattheworkingmathematicianneedsanycategorytheoryatall,butIdefinitely am!Ofcourseitdependsonwhetheryou'reinterestedinsomethingheavilyhomological,butmostpeople willneedatleastthebasicsofadjointsandlimitssometime.Thebookcoverssubstantiallymorethanthat, butbecauseexamplesaredrawnfromsomeadvancedstuff(ringsandLiealgebrasappearinthefirst chapter)youneedafairamountofbackgroundtoreadit.NoteworthyisasectionneartheendentitledAll conceptsareKanextensions.Mostbooksonhomologicalalgebrawillcontainabriefsummaryof categorytheory,asdoesJacobson'sBasicalgebraIIhereyoucanfinditlaidoutinmoredetail.

Problemsolving
Plya/Szeg,ProblemsandtheoremsinanalysisIandII Theseareveryoldbooksofverygoodproblems,mostlyfromanalysis,withcompletesolutions.They're oldfashionedofcourse,butthepolitewordisclassicalworthreadingforculture,toprepareforyour quals,or(important!)toseeifyoucanstilldoconcretecalculationsafterfouryearsofbrainwashingby abstraction.(AnyonewanttocomputethenHausdorffmeasureofS^ninR^(n+1)?)

Generalabstractalgebra
Jacobson,BasicalgebraII Thisisperhapstheonlyreallyadvancedgeneralalgebrabookitcontainschaptersoncategories,universal algebra,modulesandmodulecategories,classicalringtheory,representationsoffinitegroups,homological algebra,commutativealgebra,advancedfieldtheory...Readabilityisuniformlylow(unlessyoureallylike

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Jacobson'sprosestyle)andthequality(sanity)ofthetreatmentsvariesI'dlookanywhereelseforgroup representationtheory,butasJacobsonisaringtheorist,thestructuretheoryofringsandfieldsisdefinitive. (Notthecommutativeringstuffthough!)IboughtitbeforeIreallyknewwhetheritwasworthhavingnow I'mnotsure,butit'scomeinhandyatsurprisingtimes.Ofdubioususeasareference,sinceeachchapteris wovenrathertightlyandhefrequentlyreferstohardresultsfromvolumeI.

Grouptheoryandrepresentations
Alperin/Bell,Groupsandrepresentations Ifyou'renotintofinitegroupsortheirrepresentations,thisbookcontainsexactlywhatyouneedtoknow aboutthem.Afteraquickrunthroughofwhatyouprobablyalreadyknow,ittreatsmatrixgroups(Alperin, likeArtin,insiststhatthesearetherealexamplesoffinitegroups,andIagree),pgroups,composition series,andthenbasicrepresentationtheoryviaWedderburn'sstructuretheoremforsemisimplealgebras.I learnedalotfromthematrixgroupschapter.TheexpositionisnearlyascleanandclearasRudin's,and therearemanygoodexercises(somedeliberatelytoohard,andnonemarkedfordifficulty). [PC]Yep,asolidtextforanintrocoursetogrouptheory(atthegraduatelevel).It'sdesignedsothatno moreandnolessthantheentirebookgetscoveredinMath325,sounlikemostmathbooks,Ihaveread thisfromcovertocover. Rotman,Introductiontothetheoryofgroups Thisisagrouptheorist'sgrouptheorybook,althoughitcontainsnorepresentationtheoryatall.WhatI've seenofitlooksgood(thediagramsontheinsidecoversareneat,althoughIhavenoideawhattheymean). ButIdon'tlikegrouptheorythatmuch,soIcan'tsaymore. [BR]ThiswasmyfavoritereferenceforMurthy's257class.Startingwiththesimplestnotionsof permutations,Rotmanisabletoconstructeverythingyoueverwantedtoknowaboutgrouptheory.If you'rejustlookingforaclear,readableexpositionandelegantproofsoftheisomorphismtheoremsor Sylow'stheorems,thisisagreatplacetolook.Andifbysomerandomchanceyouhaveneedtolearnwhat awreathproductis,youwon'tneedtobuyanewbook. Gorenstein,Finitegroups [BB]Thefinalwordonfinitegroupspriorto1970.Everythingisinhere.Veryhardreadingforanon specialist,butagoodreferenceforaseriousgrouptheorist.IthinkGlaubermanhasitmemorized. Humphreys,IntroductiontoLiealgebrasandrepresentationtheory AskinnylittlebookwhichrunsbrisklythroughthebasictheoremsonLiealgebrasandtheir representations.NotethatitsaysLiealgebras,notLiegroupstherearenosmoothmanifoldshere!There arefourcopiesinEckhartLibraryandthey'realwaysallcheckedout,soitmustbeprettygoodithelpsthat thealternativeworks(likeJacobson,Liealgebras)areallveryold,thushardtoread.

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Fulton/Harris,Representationtheory:afirstcourse ThisisabeautifullyconcreteintroductiontoLiegroupsandtheirrepresentations.FirstcourseinJoe Harrisspeakmeansthatthebookisdrivenlargelybyexaminationofconcreteexamplesandtheir characteristics:infact,thefirstquarterofthebookcoversrepresentationsoffinitegroups,asanextended concreteexamplemotivatingtheLietheory.Neverthelessthebookisnoteasyreading,andyouwillneed alotofmultilinearalgebraandsomereadinesstofillinglossedoverdetails.Butattheend,youwillknow alotaboutwhythemoreadvancedgeneraltheorybehavesasitdoes.Physicistswithahighmathematics toleranceoughttocheckthisoneout.

Ringtheory
Kaplansky,Fieldsandrings Actuallythisisthreelittlesheaves(coherentsheaves,even)oflecturenotes,boundasabook:oneon Galoistheory,oneontheclassicalstructuretheoryof(noncommutative)rings,andoneonhomological dimensiontheoryofrings.Kaplansky'sexpositionisclassic,andforpeoplewho(likeme)didn'treallyget Galoistheoryoutof259,thisisn'tabadplacetolearnit.HehasasimilarvolumecalledLiealgebrasand locallycompactgroups,whichishalfstructuretheoryofLiealgebrasandhalf(ofallthings)aproofthata locallycompacttopologicalgrouphasauniqueanalyticLiegroupstructure. Anderson/Fuller,Ringsandcategoriesofmodules Noncommutativeringshaveahomologicaltheoryverydifferentinflavorfromthatofcommutativerings, namelythestructuretheoryofthecategoriesRmodandmodRofleftandrightmodules.Idon'treally knowwhyIboughtthisbook,becauseIfindthematerialitselfprettyboring.Butit'sagoodexposition, containscategoryorientedproofsofmostoftheclassicalnoncommutativeringtheory(asopposedtoLam's bookbelow),andIdiduseittogiveaMathClubtalklastyear. Morandi,FieldandGaloistheory Thisisanexceedinglygentlebutcomprehensivecourseinfieldtheory(alotmorematerialthanthefield theorychapterofageneralalgebratext).Morandigoesveryslowly,andyoucouldprobablycovermostof theproofsanddothemyourselfthebeginningexercisesaretooeasy,buttherearesomegoodonestoo. Youmightnotfindthematerialinterestingenoughtosustainsuchlengthofpresentationifso,lookat Kaplanskyinstead.Butit'sagoodreferenceifyoujustneedfieldtheorytodosomethingelsewith (commutativealgebra,say). Lam,Afirstcourseinnoncommutativerings ThisistheringtheorybookIshouldhavegottenwhenIwaslookingatringtheorybooks.Informedbya hugenumberofexamples(manyofwhichIneverwouldhaveguessedcouldexist),Lamlaysouta beautifulanddetailedexpositionofthemoreconcretepartsofthetheoryofnoncommutativeringsasit existstoday.(Somemoresophisticatedareas,suchasthetheoryofcentralsimplealgebraswhichJacobson

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treatsinBasicalgebraII,arelefttoaplannedsecondcourse,nowpublishedasLecturesonringsand modules.)Lotsofexercises,mostlynottoohard.Heavoidscategorytheoreticmethodsforthemostpart, whichsavesthebookfromturningintothekindoffunctorcatalogthatAnderson/Fullersometimes becomes.

Commutativeandhomologicalalgebra
Atiyah/Macdonald,Introductiontocommutativealgebra Matsumura,Commutativeringtheory Eisenbud,Commutativealgebrawithaviewtowardalgebraicgeometry AsPeteClarksaid,thesethreearethestandardreferencesnow,inroughlyincreasingorderofdifficulty. Atiyah/Macdonaldisshort,tothepoint,andmostlynonhomological.MatsumuraisthebigRudinof commutativealgebra:aclearsystematicexpositionfromfirstprinciples.Eisenbudisahuge,sprawling monsterofabook,whichincludesalmosteverything...somewhere.Allthreehavemanygoodexercises, andtheycomplementeachotherwell.Eisenbudisthenewestandthemostcompletereference(and,asa specificobjective,includeseveryresultusedinHartshorne'salgebraicgeometrybook),butitcanbe difficulttowadethroughsomuchmaterialtofindwhatyouwant.Atiyah/Macdonaldisprobablythebest introductorytextortryKaplansky'sbookbelow. Kaplansky,Commutativerings Ilistthisoneseparatelybecauseit's,well,different.LikeAtiyah/Macdonald,thisisasmallbookwhich takesupcommutativealgebrafromthebeginning,largelywithouthomologicalmethods.However,the paceismuchbrisker,andmanyresultsarestatedinsomewhatidiosyncraticform,sinceKaplansky resolutelyavoidsalgebraicgeometriclanguage.HeunfortunatelyreferstothethirdpartofhisnotesFields andrings(above)forthehomologicalresultshedoesneed. Weibel,Anintroductiontohomologicalalgebra WithoutthisbookIwouldprobablyhavefailedthesecondhalfofKottwitz'sMath327class.Thefirsthalf isasystematicexpositionofhomologicalalgebra,moremodernthanthestandardreferences:theaimstated istobringcurrenttechnologyinhomologicalalgebratocasualusersfromotherdisciplines.Thesecond halfisdevotedtoagroupofapplications,includingcohomologyofgroups(thelifesaverin327),Lie algebrahomologyandcohomology,andotherstuff.It'sreasonablywellwrittenandcarefulinnotation(a veryimportantthinginthisfield).Weibelalsotakescarenottolettoomuchabstractnonsensegoby withoutanexampleorthreeofwhatinthehellstructureshemightbetalkingabout.

Numbertheory
Weil,Basicnumbertheory

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[PC]Um,IsawthisbookintheCoop,wasintriguedbythetitle,andopenedituptoadiscussionofHaar measure!Notsuitableforafirstcourseinnumbertheory,orasecondcourseinnumbertheory,or...It's reallyhard.MaybesomedayI'llgettoit. [CJ]It'snotthatbad,just...brisk.WeilwasanotheroftheoriginalBourbakistes,andhisapproachto algebraicnumbertheoryreflectstheirdevotiontoproperfoundation:tostudyglobal(algebraicnumber) fields,onemustfirststudylocal(locallycompact)fields,andtostudytheseonebeginswithtopologyand measure,etc.Ithinkit'sagreatbook,butit'strueyouwon'tlearnanynumbertheoryyoudon'talready know.You'lldiscoverthatyouhadn'tknownwhatyouthoughtyouknew,butnowyoudo. Narkiewicz,Introductiontotheelementaryandanalytictheoryofalgebraicnumbers Thisisahugeyellowbrickwhichlooksmorelikeadictionarythanamathbook.Narkiewiczgivesa carefulexpositionofbasicalgebraicnumbertheory(insomewhatoldfashionednotation)withmore emphasisontheroleof(bothcomplexandpadic)analyticmethodsthanusual.Iusedittolearnsome thingsaboutcharactertheoryonthepadics.Notableforitsextensivehistoricalnotes,unsolvedproblems lists,andtrulyimmensebibliography. Silverman,Thearithmeticofellipticcurves Silverman'stwobooks(thesecondisAdvancedtopicsinthearithmeticofellipticcurves)arethestandard textsinthesubject,andfromwhatI'veseentheydeserveit.Youwillneedtobethoroughlycomfortable withbasicalgebraandnumbertheorytopickupthefirstone,however.Ifyouwanttolearnsomething aboutellipticcurveswithoutsomuchalgebraicbackground,tryKoblitz,Introductiontoellipticcurvesand modularforms(butbrushupyourcomplexanalysis)orCassels,Lecturesonellipticcurves(andbe preparedforashortbookthatdoesn'tholdyourhandmuch). Koblitz,padicnumbers,padicanalysis,andzetafunctions [PC]Interesting,andprobablyagoodplacetoreaduponpadics. [CJ]Istillwanttoknowwhatazetafunctionreallyis.Koblitzisagoodwriter,andhe'dprobablytellmeif Ireadhisbook... Frhlich/Taylor,Algebraicnumbertheory [PC]ThisisthebookthatI'dlovetofindtimetoreadfromcovertocover.It'sadvancedinthesensethat it'sdefinitelyforwouldbealgebraicnumbertheorists:theycoveralotofgroundandbasicallypride themselvesondoingstuffthattheotherintroductorytextsdon't.Forexample,theyactuallytalkabout cubic,biquadraticandsexticnumberfields,andcomplainintheirintroductionthatmanynumbertheorists neveracquireenoughtechniquetoworkwithanythingbutquadraticfields.Butintermsofprerequisites,it presupposesasolidknowledgeofundergraduatealgebra,includinganacquaintancewithmodules.I'm biasedbecauseIlovealgebraicnumbertheory,butthisbookjumpedontomyshelfabovealltheothers. Thereisjustsomuchgreatstuffinhere,anditiswrittenaboutwithenthusiasmandclarity.Onlyproblem istheconfusingandoppressivelettersthattheyuseforidealswhat'supwiththat?

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[CJ]What,thelowercaseFraktur?It'stheoldstandard(grin).

Combinatoricsanddiscretemathematics
Lovasz,Problemsincombinatorics [PS]YousimplymustincludewhatHungarianmathematiciansconsiderthemostimportantmathbook ever,LaszloLovasz'shugetomecoveringcombinatoricsfromanelementaryleveltoPh.D.levelinone book.ItteachescombinatoricsthewayHungariansthinkitshouldbetaught,bydoinglotsofproblems. Theproblemsareveryhard,butinthebookthereareseparatesectionsforproblems,hints(whichareoften quitehelpful),andfullsolutions.EverybuddingyoungHungariancombinatoristspendsayeardoingevery probleminthisbooksometimebeforehefinisheshisPh.D.Asasidetreat,thequestionsareoftenfilled withbitsofHungarianculture,e.g.Howmanywayscanyoupassoutkforintstonfriendsif1friendonly wantsanevennumberofforintsandtherestofthemmustgetatleastone?orBelawantstobuyflowers forhisfriend...Probablythemainthingwrongwiththisbookisit'shorriblyexpensiveunlessyoubuyitin Hungary,whereit'sstill$60.Ifyoucan'tfindthisbookinEckhart,thenmaybeit'snotsoimportantto includeit.Ontheotherhand,Babaididhelpwriteit,soitisrelevantnonetheless. [CJ]Aforintisabouthalfacentthesedays. Stanley,EnumerativecombinatoricsI Combinatoricsismaturingfromacollectionofproblemsknittogetherbyadhocmethods(ormethods whichappearadhoctononcombinatorists)intoadisciplinewhichistaughtandlearnedsystematically. Stanley'sbookgotaravereviewintheBulletinoftheAMSasthenewstandardreferenceoncounting, whichreallymeansmostofcombinatoricsIhaven'treaditbutI'veseenitonawholelotofgradstudents' shelves.TryitoutifG/K/P(above)istootalkyforyou.Thesecondvolumeisnowout. Bollobs,Moderngraphtheory ThisrecentSpringerGTMisasubstantialrevisionandexpansionofBollobs'searliergraphtheorytext. AlthoughI'mnotacombinatoristbyanystretchoftheimagination,itlookslikeagoodbook,invitingbut nottoy.

Measuretheory
Halmos,Measuretheory Thiswasthestandardreferenceforatleasttwogenerationsofanalysts,anditprobablystillis,because nobodywritesbooksentitledMeasuretheoryanymore.Basicallyit'sanabstractanalysistextwithextra carepaidtosettheoreticquestions,regularityproblemsformeasures,andaconstructionofHaarmeasure. It'sagoodbook,sincePaulHalmoswroteit,butitmightbeconsideredoldfashionednow.(Foramore modern,emphaticallymeasuretheoreticanalysistext,checkoutBruckner/Bruckner/Thomson,Real analysis.)

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Federer,Geometricmeasuretheory Federer'sbookislistedherebecauseinthelastfewmonths,tomygreatsurprise,ithasbecomemy referenceofchoiceforbasicrealanalysis(replacingthefirsthalfofbigRudin).Chapter2(of5)isentitled Generalmeasuretheory,anditcoverschapters13and68ofbigRudininthespaceofeightypages, togetherwithtonsofadditionalmaterialongroupinvariantmeasures,coveringtheorems,andallthe geometricmeasures(Hausdorffetal).Thepresentationiscompressedtowithinepsilonofunreadability,but onceyouunravelit,ithasapowerfulelegance.Federertakesgreatcaretogivethelimitsofgeneralityin whicheachresultistrue.Therearenoexercises,butreadingthebookishardexerciseenough.Myone quibbleisthatevenbignametheoremsarereferencedbynumberIwouldfarpreferbythedominated convergencetheoremtoby2.3.13fortherestofthebook.Ifyoudon'tlikereadingdensebooks,stay far,farawayfromFederer,butifyouwantacomplete,powerfulreferencetomeasuretheory,giveitatry.

Probability
Feller,Introductiontoprobabilitytheoryanditsapplications Thisisthestandardtext.Itsplitsintotwovolumes,namelyprobabilitybeforeandafteritturnsintomeasure theory.WhatI'vereadofitisquitewellwritten,andnoteworthyforthegreatcarewithwhichitdiscusses experimentalissues(theideawhatsequenceofchoicescorrespondstowhatmathematicalconstructcan getstickywhendependencerelationsarecomplex).Someofuswillneedtoknowsomeprobability someday,andhereitis.AlternativereferencesareShiryaev,Probability(Springer,socheaperandeasierto get,butveryRussian)andBillingsley,Probabilityandmeasure(byaUCemeritus).

Functionalanalysis
Conway,Acourseinfunctionalanalysis AgradstudentIknewfrom325sawmeleavingthebookstorewiththisbook,andtoldmeitwasterrible, thathe'dhateditatDartmouth.Ididn'tbelievehimatthetime,butnowIseewhathemeant.Asinhis complexanalysisbook,Conwaydevelopsfunctionalanalysisslowlyandcarefully,withoutexcessive generalization(locallyconvexspacesareasidetopic)andwithproofsingreatdetail,exceptfortheoneshe omits.Thistimearound,though,thedetailisexcruciating(manyfunctionalanalysisproofsconsistofa massofboringcalculationsurroundingonemainidea)andthenotationissimplyawful.(Thefactthat HilbertspacesareoftenfunctionspacesisnotanexcusetouseftodenoteageneralelementofaHilbert space.)Thebookisnotwithoutvirtues,butitgoessoslowlythatIcan'tseewhichresultsareimportant. Dunford/Schwartz,Linearoperators Afteralltheseyears,IthinkDunford/Schwartzisstillthebibleoffunctionalanalysistheanalystswhodid alltheexercisesinKelleytolearntopologytriedtodoalltheexercisesinhere,oratleastvolume1,tolearn aboutoperators.Theyallfailed,althoughoneoftheexercisesturnedintoLanglands'sdoctoralthesis.D/S istoooldtobeeasilyreadnow,butworthlookingatforculture.

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Kadison/Ringrose,Fundamentalsofthetheoryofoperatoralgebras No,I'mnotturningintoanoperatoralgebraist(althoughImightbedoingnoncommutativegeometrysome day).Thefirstthreefifthsofvolume1containsamuchbettertreatmentofbasicfunctionalanalysisthan I'veseenelsewhere,certainlyslantedtowardoperatoralgebras,butclearlywrittenandinteresting(aquality lackinginmanyfunctionalanalysistexts).Thebookisknownforitscollectionofchallengingexercises, whichweresopopularthatK/Rwroteupcompletesolutionstothetwovolumesandpublishedthemas volumes3and4.Unfortunatelyvolume1ismissingfromEckhartLibrary. Kreyszig,Introductoryfunctionalanalysiswithapplications Hereisabooktolookatforalotofapplicationsandmotivationforfunctionalanalysis,withoutalotof technicalities.I'veonlylookedatitalittlebititseemstobewrittenmorelikeaphysicsbook,substitutinga plausibilityargumentforanoccasionaltrickytechnicalproof,butspendingalotoftimeinexplanation.Try itifyouhavetroubleseeingwhat'sreallydifferentabouttheinfinitedimensionalcase. Zimmer,EssentialResultsofFunctionalAnalysis [BB]It'saUofCpublishedbluebook,andisextremelyconciseandquicklypresentsmostofthestuffone needstoknow.It'scertainlynoteasyChapter0presentsweakderivativesbutit'sagoodsecondcourse.

Complexanalysis
Andersson,Topicsincomplexanalysis IgotthroughthenonRiemannsurfacespartof314onthisbook.It'saskinnySpringerUniversitextwhich presentscomplexanalysisatasecondcourselevel,efficientlyandclearly,withlesstalkandfewer commercials.Hestartsoffbydefiningdz=dx+idy,whichwillannoysomepeoplebutmakesmehappy. Laterchapterstreatmoreadvancedanalyticmaterial(Hardyspaces,boundedmeanoscillation,andthe like).Theexercisesareprettytough. Gunning/Rossi,Analyticfunctionsofseveralvariables Thisisoneoftheclassictextsontherealtheoryofseveralcomplexvariables,meaninganalyticspaces, coherentsheavesandthewholebit.It'sagoodbooksofarasitgoes,butthere'salotofhardtheoryandnot alotofgeometricmotivationandnoexercises. Whitney,Complexanalyticvarieties Andthisiswhereyougotolearnthefaketheoryofseveralcomplexvariables,meaningwhatthings actuallylooklikegeometrically,withaslittlemachineryaspossible.Veryconcrete.Ithinkthere'salaw thatseveralcomplexvariablesbooksmusthavenoexercisesandmustuselettersasordinalsatsome sectioninglevel.

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Narasimhan,CompactRiemannsurfaces Iputthisbookheretowarnthat,althoughCorlettelikestouseitasa314text,youshouldnottrytoreadit untilyoursecondorthirdyearofgraduateschool.ItpresentsthetheoryofcompactRiemannsurfacesas someonewhoalreadyknewthegeneralprincipleswouldseeit,asaspecializationofcomplexalgebraic geometry. [PC]ThisbookliesonmyshelffromMath314,waitingforsomeonesmarterthanmetocomebyandread it.IthinkIreadpages27and28about50times,butthat'saboutit. Jost,CompactRiemannsurfaces IfyouwanttoknowwhatRiemannsurfacesareandwhythey'reinteresting,gohereinstead.Jostassumes littlebackgroundyoucouldprobablyreadthisafter20789withsomework. Weyl,TheconceptofaRiemannsurface Ortrythisbook,whichisabeautifulclassicbutusesterminologyandwaysofthinkingwhichweconsider archaic.HasslerWhitneyiscreditedwiththeformaldefinitionofadifferentiablemanifold,andRiemann withtheidea(inhisHabilitationsschriftseeSpivakvolume2foratranslation),butthefirsteditionofthis bookwasasignificantstepinitsformulation.Readforcultureandbrainelevation,onceyouknowsome substantialcomplexanalysis.

Harmonicanalysis
Katznelson,Anintroductiontoharmonicanalysis Andhemeansanalysis...Thisisashorttextonclassicalharmonicanalysis,cheapandprettyreadable. There'saratherperfunctorytreatmentoflocallycompactgroupsattheend,buttherealemphasisisonthe classicaltheoryofFourierseriesandintegrals,includingallkindsofstickyconvergenceandsummation questions. Rudin,Fourieranalysisongroups Thisisaclassictextoncommutativeharmonicanalysis(thatis,onlocallycompactabeliangroups).It'sa fairlydenseresearchmonograph. Hewitt/Ross,Abstractharmonicanalysis H/RistheDunford/Schwartzofharmonicanalysisthisisanimmensetwovolumesetwhichspendsmost ofafirstvolumejustsettingupthegeneralitiesontopologicalgroupsandintegrationtheory.Assuch,the recommendationissimilar:lookatitforculture. Stein/Weiss,IntroductiontoFourieranalysisonEuclideanspaces

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YoumightthinkofthisasamoreadvancedKatznelsonitrequiresaprettysolidcomfortwithfirstyear graduateanalysistoread. Helgason,Groupsandgeometricanalysis Ifoundthisafascinatingbook.AttheriskoftotallymissingthepointImightcharacterizeitasthe differentialgeometricsideofnoncommutativeharmonicanalysis(infinitedimensionalrepresentationtheory ofnonabeliangroups).It'saboutthegeometricobjectswhicharisefrominvarianceundersymmetriesofan ambientspace(e.g.,theLaplacianistheonlyisometryinvariantdifferentialoperatorontheplane).Maybe somedayIwillactuallybeabletoreaditHelgason'searlierbook(below)isasufficientpreparation.

Differentialequations
Taylor,PartialdifferentialequationsI:basictheory IfinallylearnedalittleaboutPDEs,andthisbookisthefirstoneI'drecommendtoanypure mathematiciansinterested.It'sthefirstvolumeofamonumentalthreevolumeseriescoveringawiderange oftopicsinanalysisandgeometry(yes,AtiyahSingerisinvolumeII).VolumeIcontainsthefoundational materialonFourieranalysis,distributionsandSobolevspaces,applicationtotheclassicalsecondorder PDE(Laplace,heat,wave,etcetera),aswellasahandyintroductorychaptercontainingallyoureallyneed toknowaboutordinarydifferentialequations!Thislistoftopicsdoesn'tdothebookjustice,however,since it'spackedwithinterestinglittleapplicationsandsidenotes,inthetextandthecopiousexercises.The generalconsensusamongMITgraduatestudentsisthatthisbook,likeFedererandGriffiths/Harris,has everythingintheworldinit. Evans,Partialdifferentialequations Thisisabig,fat,talkyintroductiontoPDEforpuremathematicians.Itslightssometheoreticaltopics (Fouriertransformsanddistributions)infavorofanunusuallyfulltreatmentofnonlinearPDEtheauthor claimsthatweknowtoomuchaboutlinearequationsandnotenoughaboutnonlinearones,andhis preferencesareevidentthroughout.Butitisagoodbook,writtenwithcarefulattentiontopedagogyand makingthingsmakesensetosomeonenewtothefield.Ilikeitasatextbook,butTaylorisabetterfirst choiceforreference. Hrmander,TheanalysisoflinearpartialdifferentialoperatorsI HereisthebookEvanswascomplainingaboutHrmander'sfourvolumemasterworkcontainseverything weknewaboutlinearPDEuptothemidseventies.Thefirstvolumeisavailableasapaperbackstudy edition,andmakesagoodsecondaryreferenceondistributionsandFouriertransforms.Ihopesomedayto understandthelasttwochapters,whichintroducesomethingcalledmicrolocalanalysisthatcurrentlyhas mefascinated.Thebookshowslittlemercyforthereaderdistributiontheoryhassomeveryhard technicalitiesandHrmanderproceedsprettybriskly.Butit'ssometimesnicetohaveatrulydefinitive reference.

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Olver,Equivalence,invariantsandsymmetry Anotherbookongeometricobjectsarisingfrominvarianceconditions,thisonemorefocusedon differentialequations.Peopleconfusedaboutwhytheequationsofphysicslookthewaytheydomighttry it.

Differentialtopology
Hirsch,Differentialtopology [PC]Asolidintroductiontodifferentialtopology,butmaybeabitboggeddownintechnicaldetails:a themeofthesubjectisthatarbitrarymapscanbeapproximatedbyverynicemapsundertheright conditions.Hirschhasachapterwhichheinvestigatesconditionsotherthantherightones,andcomesup withsomesharpishestimatesaboutwhenyoucanapproximatewhatbywhat.Thisissortofinteresting,but seemsdistinctlyantitheticaltothespiritofsoftanalysiswhichrunsthroughmyveinsandtheveinsof differentialtopologistseverywhere.Whybother?Iownthebook,andthere'ssomegoodstuffinit,butin retrospectI'dratherownGuilleminandPollack,whichproceedsabitmoregeometricallyandfarless rigorously.Therigorisoptionalandcanbefilledinlater. [CJ]IagreewithPete'sassessmentofthebook,butnotwithhisopinionsonrigor.Hirschisagoodsecond differentialtopologybookafteryouseehowallthetouchyfeelystuffgoes(moveitalittlebittomakeit transverse),readHirschtoseehowitactuallyworks,andhowanicetheoreticalframeworkcanbe constructedaroundthesoftgeometricideas.Ithinkit'sindispensabletoseehowthingsaredone. Lang,DifferentialandRiemannianmanifolds AnotherSergeLangbook,whichalsocontainsaproofoftheinversefunctiontheoreminBanachspaces (sigh).It'snotreallyhumanreadable,andIlistitmostlybecauseitwasthefirstmanifoldsbookIblundered acrossin209.ButithasaniceproofoftheODEexistencetheorem,too. Warner,FoundationsofdifferentiablemanifoldsandLiegroups Thisisacuriousselectionofmaterial:besidesthebasictheoryofmanifoldsanddifferentialforms,thereisa longchapteronLiegroups,aproofofdeRham'stheoremontheequivalenceofdeRhamcohomologyto Cechandtopologicalcohomologytheories,andaproofoftheHodgetheoremforRiemannianmanifolds. It'sconvenienttohaveallthisstuffhereinasinglebook,butWarner'snotationannoysmeterribly,andyou canfindbettertreatmentsofanyonetopicelsewhere.

Algebraictopology
Massey,Abasiccourseinalgebraictopology Masseywrotetwoearlieralgebraictopologybooks,Algebraictopology:afirstcourse,andSingular homologytheory.Thisbookistheirunion,minusthelastchapterortwoofthefirstbook.Thusthefirsthalf

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ofthebookisanice,wellgroundedtreatmentofthefundamentalgroupandcoveringspaces,atavery elementarylevel(Masseyfillsinallthematerialonfreegroupsandfreeproductsofgroups).Thesecond halfisacourseonhomologytheorywhichis,well,boring.Tooslow,tooelementary,tootalky,andnot evenverygeometricforallthat.It'lldo,butit'snotlovable. [PC]Forbetterorworse,thiswillprobablybeyourfirsttextbookonalgebraictopology.IknowChris doesn'tlikeitverymuch.Thehomotopytheorypartisfine,butIthinkthehomology/cohomologypart couldbeimproved...somehow. Fulton,Algebraictopology:afirstcourse [PC]Iownthistoo,andit'sapleasantbook:analgebraictopologybookformathstudentswhoaren't especiallyinterestedinalgebraictopology.No,really.Idolikealgebraictopology,butthisbookappealsto metoobecauseittakesaholisticandgeometricapproachtothematerialafterall,algebraictopologyis supposedtobeforprovingstuffaboutmanifoldsandcomplexes(andothertopologicalspacesofinterest,if any),notaboutchaincomplexes.There'salotofinterestingstuffhere,butbecauseFultonoftencontents himselfwiththesimplestnontrivialcaseforfundamentalgroups,homology,etc.,thepresentationisless thancomplete.Greatsupplementaryreadingandgoodtreatmentofbranchedcoveringspaces. Bott/Tu,Differentialformsinalgebraictopology Thisbookmadealgebraictopologymakesensetome!Bott/Tuapproachcohomologyandhomotopy theorythroughthedeRhamcomplex,whichmeansthecalculationsarealleasytounderstandandgive insightintothegeometricsituation.Thebookisnotafirstcourseinalgebraictopology,asitdoesn'tcover nearlyallthestandardtopics.Whatitdoescoverisbeautifullyclear,motivatedand,well,sensical.They evengiveagoodexcuseforspectralsequences,whichinmybookisamajoraccomplishment. Spanier,Algebraictopology Spanieristhemaximallyunreadablebookonalgebraictopology.It'sburstingwithanunbelievableamount ofmaterial,allstatedinthegreatestpossiblegeneralityandnaturality,withtheleastpossiblemotivationand explanation.Butit'saweinspiring,andeverysooftenformsausefulreference.I'mgladIhaveit,butmost peopleregreteveropeningit. Rotman,Anintroductiontoalgebraictopology [BR]Youdidn'tmentionthisone.IthinkanappropriatenicknameforthisoneisSpanierLiteormaybe DietSpanier,orbetterstill,SpanierforDummies.Rotmanwasactuallyastudentoftheinfamous Spanier(andalsoofSaundersMacLaneforthatmatter!).Basically,hestolethetableofcontentsfrom Spanier'sbookandtriedtowriteatextthatwasmuchlessdenseandgeneral,butmoreindepthandmore categoricalthan,say,Massey.I'veonlyreadthroughthefirst3chapters,butanyonewhoistotally frustratedwithhavingtochoosebetweenultraelementaryandultraadvancedalgebraictopologybooks shouldlookhere. Stillwell,Classicaltopologyandcombinatorialgrouptheory

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[PC]Thisbookisgreat!Nobookonthislistcoincideswithmyownmathematicalestheticslikethisone:I checkedthisbookoutthissummerwhileIwasdoingresearchonsurfacetopologyandreaditcoverto cover:you'llseehowgeometryrelatestotopologyrelatestogrouptheory.Iwishthiswasmyfirstalgebraic topologybook,becauseit'sfullofexcitingtheoremsaboutsurfaces,threemanifolds,knots,simpleloops, geodesicsinotherwords,it'sripplingwithgeometric/topologicalcontentinteadofcommutativediagrams. LetmealsorecommendStillwell'sbookGeometryofsurfaces,alongthesamelines. Bredon,Topologyandgeometry Don'tbefooledbythewordgeometryinthetitletherearetwochaptersonbasicdifferentialtopology followedbythebestmoderncourseinbasicalgebraictopologyI'veseen.DifferentialgeometryandLie groupssupplytheoccasionalexample,buttherearenometricstobefound!Lotsandlotsofexercises. [PC]ThisonegetstheBenBlandersealofapproval.FromwhatI'veseen,it'sanexcellentcompendiumof graduatelevelgeometryandtopologypoweredbygoodexamplesand(again!)actualgeometriccontent.

Differentialgeometry
Spivak,Acomprehensiveintroductiontodifferentialgeometry,35 ThelatterthreevolumesformtheTopicssectionofSpivak'smasterworkhetreatsasuccessionofmore advancedtheorieswithindifferentialgeometry,withhiscustomaryflairandtheoccasionalstopfor generalities.ThelastchapterisentitledThegeneralizedGaussBonnettheoremandwhatitmeansfor mankind,sothatgivesyouanideaofSpivak'stakeongeometry.Sadlyagain,therearenoexercises,but theannotatedbibliographyattheendofvolume5isimmense. Helgason,Differentialgeometry,Liegroups,andsymmetricspaces Thetitleisalittlebitofamisnomer,asthisbookisreallyaboutthedifferentialgeometryofLiegroupsand symmetricspaces,withanoccasionalnecessarystopforLiealgebratheory.Thefirstchapterisarapidif ratheroldfashioned(nobundlestensorsaremodulesovertheringofsmoothfunctions)courseinbasic differentialgeometry.Therestofthebookdescribesthegeometricpropertiesofsymmetricspaces(roughly, manifoldswithaninvolutiveisometryateachpoint)indepth.Ifindthematerialinterestinginitself,andas aleadintoHelgason'sotherfascinatingbook(above).Therearemanyexercises,andsolutionsattheend! Kobayashi/Nomizu,Foundationsofdifferentialgeometry K/Nisthestandardreferenceondifferentialgeometryfromthesophisticatedpointofviewofframe bundles.Theemphasishereisonreference,unfortunately.Ithinkit'stheonlybookanyoneactuallyuses tolookupstuffaboutprincipalbundleswhentheyneedit,butit'snotwrittenasatextbook.Thenotesand bibliographyareverynice,however. Rosenberg,TheLaplacianonaRiemannianmanifold

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[BB]Adifferentapproachtogeometry,throughanalysis.Lotsofexercisesintegratedcriticallyintothetext provestheHodgetheoremusingtheheatkernel.Introducesanalysisonmanifolds.I'veonlygottenthrough thefirstchapterandI'veskimmedtherest,soIcan'tsaytoomuchmore,butitlooksinteresting. doCarmo,Riemanniangeometry [BB]Areadableandinterestingintroductiontothesubject.Itcoverssomeinterestingmaterial,suchasthe spheretheoremandPreissman'stheoremaboutfundamentalgroupsofmanifoldsofnegativecurvature,and muchmore. Boothby,IntroductiontodifferentiablemanifoldsandRiemanniangeometry Idon'tknowwhyeveryonelikesthisbooksomuchmaybebecausetheymanagedtofinditanditcontains whattheyneed?It'sjustanothermanifoldsbook,really,andlesswellwritten(lotsofannoyingcoordinates) thanmost.

Geometricmeasuretheory
Morgan,Geometricmeasuretheory:abeginner'sguide Mattila,GeometryofsetsandmeasuresonEuclideanspaces Federer,Geometricmeasuretheory Okay,soit'salittleoverkill,butIlikegeometricmeasuretheory.Herearethreebooksaboutit,twoyou shouldconsiderreadingandoneyoushouldconsidernotreading.Morgantrulyisabeginner'sguide,and oneofthebestI'veseentoanysubject.Heintroducestheformidabletechnicalapparatusofgeometric measuretheorybitbybit,leaningonpicturesandexamplestoshowwhatit'sforandwhyweworkso hard.Proofsofhardtheoremsarefrequentlyomitted(mostlyreferredtoFederer).Mattilaisarecentbook onthetheoryofrectifiability,andlooksgoodfromthelittleI'veseen.Federeristhebible,andit'sthe densestbookI'veeverseen,onanything.Everythingupto1969isinhere,andmuchafterwardis anticipated.Inadditiontothetheoryofrectifiablesets,Federerdevelopsapowerfulhomological integrationtheory,leadingtoahomologytheoryforlocallyLipschitzsetsandmapsinR^nwhichis isomorphiconnicesetstotheusualhomologytheories.Youcan'treallylearnfromit,exceptthat sometimesyouhaveto:thesubjectisitselfverycomplicatedandtherearefewexpositions. Falconer,Thegeometryoffractalsets Hereisanexpositionoftherudimentsofgeometricmeasuretheory,mostlyHausdorffmeasures,together withapplicationstorectifiabilityandregularityofsetsofuglydimension.Anicelittlebookifyou're curiousaboutwhyit'sacoolsubject.

Geometry:algebraicgeometry

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Harris,Algebraicgeometry:afirstcourse Algebraicgeometryisahardsubjecttolearn,andhereisasgoodaplaceasany.Ithasaverydifferent flavorfromanyotherkindofgeometrywestudyinthisdayandage:lotsofresultsaboutcurveshaving cuspsandintersectinghyperplanesthreetimes.Harrispresentsabodyofclassicalmaterial(projective varietiesoveranalgebraicallyclosedfieldofcharacteristiczero)throughanalysisofmany,manyexamples, muchlikehisrepresentationtheorybook.Bewarnedthatmuchisleftout,andyoudevelopyourfirst familiaritywiththesubjectbyfiguringoutwhathe'sreallysaying.Youwillalsoneedtobequite comfortablewithmultilinearalgebra.ButHarrishasagreatexpositorystyle,andthere'salotofgoodstuff inallthoseexamples. Shafarevich,Basicalgebraicgeometry1 Thismaybeabetterplacetolearnforthefirsttime,asShafarevichassumesthatthelanguageandwaysof thoughtofalgebraicgeometryarealientothereader.Heproceedsbriskly,though,withfewerstopstolook aroundforinterestingexamplesofvarieties(amelioratedsomewhatbythecopiousexercises).Tomakea seriousattemptatlearningalgebraicgeometry,you'llprobablyneedboth.Shafarevich,likeHarris,teaches someofthecommutativealgebraalongtheway. Mumford,AlgebraicgeometryI:complexprojectivevarieties Thisbookissuperficiallysimilartotheprevioustwo(varieties,noschemes)butit'swrittenformature mathematicians:it'sanexpositorymonograph,notatextbook.Assuch,it'saGoodBookintheabstract, butnotallthatusefultosomeonelookingforguidance.Youwillneedtobesolidlycomfortablewith commutativealgebratobeginreading. Griffiths/Harris,Principlesofalgebraicgeometry Ahuge,sprawling,beautiful,inspiring,infuriatingbook.ItshouldbecalledPrinciplesofanalytic geometry,becausealthoughthequestionsarealgebraicgeometric,theobjectsandmethodsconsideredare allcomplexanalytic.ThisisalgebraicgeometryoverC,theclassicalcaseandtheoneinwhichexisting theoryisrichest.It'sabeautifulandhugelysophisticatedtheory.G/Htreatavastquantityofitineight hundredpages,andthetreatmentisstillsocompressedthatmanyproofsarequiteelliptical.Fillinginthe gapsrequires(ordevelops)agreatdealofmaturity.Ifyou'reinterestedinanyaspectofalgebraicor differentialgeometry,youshouldnotmissthisbookbutdon'texpectanyofittobeeasy. Hartshorne,Algebraicgeometry Hugh,myalgebraTA,describedHartshorneastheschemesbookforthemoremanlyalgebraic geometer.It'sthestandardexpositionofschemetheory,theGrothendieckremakingofalgebraicgeometry, andit'slegendarilydifficult,notonlythetextbutthemanyexercises.TheprefacetoShafarevich'sEnglish editionremarksthatmanygraduatestudents(bynomeansall)canworkveryhardonChaptersTwoand ThreeofHartshorneforayearormore,andstillknowmoreorlessnothingattheendofit.But,aswith mostlegendarilydifficultbooks,ithasitsownawesomebeauty,andthediligentreaderisrewarded.I'mnot sureHartshornebelongsinanundergraduatebibliography,butIdidsaydifficultylevelunbounded

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above... Undergraduatemathematicsbibliography,revised21January1999(142entries) ChristopherJeris,cjeris@math.mit.edu Back

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