Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces

Halmos, Paul R.

ISBN 10: 1614272816 / ISBN 13: 9781614272816

Published by Martino Fine Books, 2012

About this Item

Clean, sturdy, and unmarked copy in very good condition. DM.

Seller Inventory # Sq27518

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces
• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1614272816
• ISBN 13: 9781614272816
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Mathematics

About this title

Synopsis

2012 Reprint of 1942 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. As a newly minted Ph.D., Paul Halmos came to the Institute for Advanced Study in 1938--even though he did not have a fellowship--to study among the many giants of mathematics who had recently joined the faculty. He eventually became John von Neumann's research assistant, and it was one of von Neumann's inspiring lectures that spurred Halmos to write "Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces." The book brought him instant fame as an expositor of mathematics. Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces combines algebra and geometry to discuss the three-dimensional area where vectors can be plotted. The book broke ground as the first formal introduction to linear algebra, a branch of modern mathematics that studies vectors and vector spaces. The book continues to exert its influence sixty years after publication, as linear algebra is now widely used, not only in mathematics but also in the natural and social sciences, for studying such subjects as weather problems, traffic flow, electronic circuits, and population genetics. In 1983 Halmos received the coveted Steele Prize for exposition from the American Mathematical Society for "his many graduate texts in mathematics dealing with finite dimensional vector spaces, measure theory, ergodic theory, and Hilbert space."

Review

“The theory is systematically developed by the axiomatic method that has, since von Neumann, dominated the general approach to linear functional analysis and that achieves here a high degree of lucidity and clarity. The presentation is never awkward or dry, as it sometimes is in other “modern” textbooks; it is as unconventional as one has come to expect from the author. The book contains about 350 well placed and instructive problems, which cover a considerable part of the subject. All in all this is an excellent work, of equally high value for both student and teacher.” Zentralblatt für Mathematik