J. Michael Steele is C. F. Koo Professor of Statistics at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of more than 100 mathematical publications including the books, Probability Theory and Combinatorial Optimization and Stochastic Calculus and Financial Applications. He is also the founding editor of the Annals of Applied Probability.

'This eminently readable book will be treasured not only by students and their teachers but also by all those who seek to make sense of the elusive macrocosm of twentieth-century mathematics.' Zentralblatt MATH

• 1. Starting with Cauchy; 2. The AM-GM inequality; 3. Lagrange's identity and Minkowski's conjecture; 4. On geometry and sums of squares; 5. Consequences of order; 6. Convexity - the third pillar; 7. Integral intermezzo; 8. The ladder of power means; 9. Hölder's inequality; 10. Hilbert's inequality and compensating difficulties; 11. Hardy's inequality and the flop; 12. Symmetric sums; 13. Majorization and Schur convexity; 14. Cancellation and aggregation; Solutions to the exercises; Notes; References.

J. Michael Steele is C. F. Koo Professor of Statistics at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of more than 100 mathematical publications including the books, Probability Theory and Combinatorial Optimization and Stochastic Calculus and Financial Applications. He is also the founding editor of the Annals of Applied Probability.

'This eminently readable book will be treasured not only by students and their teachers but also by all those who seek to make sense of the elusive macrocosm of twentieth-century mathematics.' Zentralblatt MATH

• 1. Starting with Cauchy; 2. The AM-GM inequality; 3. Lagrange's identity and Minkowski's conjecture; 4. On geometry and sums of squares; 5. Consequences of order; 6. Convexity - the third pillar; 7. Integral intermezzo; 8. The ladder of power means; 9. Hölder's inequality; 10. Hilbert's inequality and compensating difficulties; 11. Hardy's inequality and the flop; 12. Symmetric sums; 13. Majorization and Schur convexity; 14. Cancellation and aggregation; Solutions to the exercises; Notes; References.

J. Michael Steele is C. F. Koo Professor of Statistics at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of more than 100 mathematical publications including the books, Probability Theory and Combinatorial Optimization and Stochastic Calculus and Financial Applications. He is also the founding editor of the Annals of Applied Probability.

'This eminently readable book will be treasured not only by students and their teachers but also by all those who seek to make sense of the elusive macrocosm of twentieth-century mathematics.' Zentralblatt MATH

• 1. Starting with Cauchy; 2. The AM-GM inequality; 3. Lagrange's identity and Minkowski's conjecture; 4. On geometry and sums of squares; 5. Consequences of order; 6. Convexity - the third pillar; 7. Integral intermezzo; 8. The ladder of power means; 9. Hölder's inequality; 10. Hilbert's inequality and compensating difficulties; 11. Hardy's inequality and the flop; 12. Symmetric sums; 13. Majorization and Schur convexity; 14. Cancellation and aggregation; Solutions to the exercises; Notes; References.