Ethan D. Bloch – författare

This text is a rigorous, detailed introduction to real analysis that presents the fundamentals with clear exposition and carefully written definitions, theorems, and proofs. It is organized in a distinctive, flexible way that would make it equally appropriate to undergraduate mathematics majors who want to continue in mathematics, and to future mathematics teachers who want to understand the theory behind calculus. The Real Numbers and Real Analysis will serve as an excellent one-semester text for undergraduates majoring in mathematics, and for students in mathematics education who want a thorough understanding of the theory behind the real number system and calculus.

“Proofs and Fundamentals: A First Course in Abstract Mathematics” 2nd edition is designed as a "transition" course to introduce undergraduates to the writing of rigorous mathematical proofs, and to such fundamental mathematical ideas as sets, functions, relations, and cardinality. The text serves as a bridge between computational courses such as calculus, and more theoretical, proofs-oriented courses such as linear algebra, abstract algebra and real analysis. This 3-part work carefully balances Proofs, Fundamentals, and Extras. Part 1 presents logic and basic proof techniques; Part 2 thoroughly covers fundamental material such as sets, functions and relations; and Part 3 introduces a variety of extra topics such as groups, combinatorics and sequences. A gentle, friendly style is used, in which motivation and informal discussion play a key role, and yet high standards in rigor and in writing are never compromised. New to the second edition: 1) A new section about the foundations ofset theory has been added at the end of the chapter about sets. This section includes a very informal discussion of the Zermelo– Fraenkel Axioms for set theory. We do not make use of these axioms subsequently in the text, but it is valuable for any mathematician to be aware that an axiomatic basis for set theory exists. Also included in this new section is a slightly expanded discussion of the Axiom of Choice, and new discussion of Zorn's Lemma, which is used later in the text. 2) The chapter about the cardinality of sets has been rearranged and expanded. There is a new section at the start of the chapter that summarizes various properties of the set of natural numbers; these properties play important roles subsequently in the chapter. The sections on induction and recursion have been slightly expanded, and have been relocated to an earlier place in the chapter (following the new section), both because they are more concrete than the material found in the other sections of the chapter, and because ideas from the sections on induction and recursion are used in the other sections. Next comes the section on the cardinality of sets (which was originally the first section of the chapter); this section gained proofs of the Schroeder–Bernstein theorem and the Trichotomy Law for Sets, and lost most of the material about finite and countable sets, which has now been moved to a new section devoted to those two types of sets. The chapter concludes with the section on the cardinality of the number systems. 3) The chapter on the construction of the natural numbers, integers and rational numbers from the Peano Postulates was removed entirely. That material was originally included to provide the needed background about the number systems, particularly for the discussion of the cardinality of sets, but it was always somewhat out of place given the level and scope of this text. The background material about the natural numbers needed for the cardinality of sets has now been summarized in a new section at the start of that chapter, making the chapter both self-contained and more accessible than it previously was. 4) The section on families of sets has been thoroughly revised, with the focus being on families of sets in general, not necessarily thought of as indexed. 5) A new section about the convergence of sequences has been added to the chapter on selected topics. This new section, which treats a topic from real analysis, adds some diversity to the chapter, which had hitherto contained selected topics of only an algebraic or combinatorial nature. 6) A new section called ``You Are the Professor'' has been added to the end of the last chapter. This new section, which includes a number of attempted proofs taken from actual homework exercises submitted by students, offers the reader the opportunity to solidify her facility for writing proofs by critiquing these submissions as if she were the instructor for the course. 7) All known errors have been corrected. 8) Many minor adjustments of wording have been made throughout the text, with the hope of improving the exposition.

“Proofs and Fundamentals: A First Course in Abstract Mathematics” 2nd edition is designed as a "transition" course to introduce undergraduates to the writing of rigorous mathematical proofs, and to such fundamental mathematical ideas as sets, functions, relations, and cardinality. The text serves as a bridge between computational courses such as calculus, and more theoretical, proofs-oriented courses such as linear algebra, abstract algebra and real analysis. This 3-part work carefully balances Proofs, Fundamentals, and Extras. Part 1 presents logic and basic proof techniques; Part 2 thoroughly covers fundamental material such as sets, functions and relations; and Part 3 introduces a variety of extra topics such as groups, combinatorics and sequences. A gentle, friendly style is used, in which motivation and informal discussion play a key role, and yet high standards in rigor and in writing are never compromised. New to the second edition: 1) A new section about the foundations ofset theory has been added at the end of the chapter about sets. This section includes a very informal discussion of the Zermelo– Fraenkel Axioms for set theory. We do not make use of these axioms subsequently in the text, but it is valuable for any mathematician to be aware that an axiomatic basis for set theory exists. Also included in this new section is a slightly expanded discussion of the Axiom of Choice, and new discussion of Zorn''s Lemma, which is used later in the text. 2) The chapter about the cardinality of sets has been rearranged and expanded. There is a new section at the start of the chapter that summarizes various properties of the set of natural numbers; these properties play important roles subsequently in the chapter. The sections on induction and recursion have been slightly expanded, and have been relocated to an earlier place in the chapter (following the new section), both because they are more concrete than the material found in the other sections of the chapter, and because ideas from the sections on induction and recursion are used in the other sections. Next comes the section on the cardinality of sets (which was originally the first section of the chapter); this section gained proofs of the Schroeder–Bernstein theorem and the Trichotomy Law for Sets, and lost most of the material about finite and countable sets, which has now been moved to a new section devoted to those two types of sets. The chapter concludes with the section on the cardinality of the number systems. 3) The chapter on the construction of the natural numbers, integers and rational numbers from the Peano Postulates was removed entirely. That material was originally included to provide the needed background about the number systems, particularly for the discussion of the cardinality of sets, but it was always somewhat out of place given the level and scope of this text. The background material about the natural numbers needed for the cardinality of sets has now been summarized in a new section at the start of that chapter, making the chapter both self-contained and more accessible than it previously was. 4) The section on families of sets has been thoroughly revised, with the focus being on families of sets in general, not necessarily thought of as indexed. 5) A new section about the convergence of sequences has been added to the chapter on selected topics. This new section, which treats a topic from real analysis, adds some diversity to the chapter, which had hitherto contained selected topics of only an algebraic or combinatorial nature. 6) A new section called ``You Are the Professor'''' has been added to the end of the last chapter. This new section, which includes a number of attempted proofs taken from actual homework exercises submitted by students, offers the reader the opportunity to solidify her facility for writing proofs by critiquing these submissions as if she were the instructor for the course. 7) All known errors have been corrected. 8) Many minor adjustments of wording have been made throughout the text, with the hope of improving the exposition.

In an effort to make advanced mathematics accessible to a wide variety of students, and to give even the most mathematically inclined students a solid basis upon which to build their continuing study of mathematics, there has been a tendency in recent years to introduce students to the for­ mulation and writing of rigorous mathematical proofs, and to teach topics such as sets, functions, relations and countability, in a "transition" course, rather than in traditional courses such as linear algebra. A transition course functions as a bridge between computational courses such as Calculus, and more theoretical courses such as linear algebra and abstract algebra. This text contains core topics that I believe any transition course should cover, as well as some optional material intended to give the instructor some flexibility in designing a course. The presentation is straightforward and focuses on the essentials, without being too elementary, too exces­ sively pedagogical, and too full to distractions. Some of features of this text are the following: (1) Symbolic logic and the use of logical notation are kept to a minimum. We discuss only what is absolutely necessary - as is the case in most advanced mathematics courses that are not focused on logic per se.

“Proofs and Fundamentals: A First Course in Abstract Mathematics” 2nd edition is designed as a "transition" course to introduce undergraduates to the writing of rigorous mathematical proofs, and to such fundamental mathematical ideas as sets, functions, relations, and cardinality. The text serves as a bridge between computational courses such as calculus, and more theoretical, proofs-oriented courses such as linear algebra, abstract algebra and real analysis. This 3-part work carefully balances Proofs, Fundamentals, and Extras. Part 1 presents logic and basic proof techniques; Part 2 thoroughly covers fundamental material such as sets, functions and relations; and Part 3 introduces a variety of extra topics such as groups, combinatorics and sequences. A gentle, friendly style is used, in which motivation and informal discussion play a key role, and yet high standards in rigor and in writing are never compromised. New to the second edition: 1) A new section about the foundations ofset theory has been added at the end of the chapter about sets. This section includes a very informal discussion of the Zermelo– Fraenkel Axioms for set theory. We do not make use of these axioms subsequently in the text, but it is valuable for any mathematician to be aware that an axiomatic basis for set theory exists. Also included in this new section is a slightly expanded discussion of the Axiom of Choice, and new discussion of Zorn's Lemma, which is used later in the text. 2) The chapter about the cardinality of sets has been rearranged and expanded. There is a new section at the start of the chapter that summarizes various properties of the set of natural numbers; these properties play important roles subsequently in the chapter. The sections on induction and recursion have been slightly expanded, and have been relocated to an earlier place in the chapter (following the new section), both because they are more concrete than the material found in the other sections of the chapter, and because ideas from the sections on induction and recursion are used in the other sections. Next comes the section on the cardinality of sets (which was originally the first section of the chapter); this section gained proofs of the Schroeder–Bernstein theorem and the Trichotomy Law for Sets, and lost most of the material about finite and countable sets, which has now been moved to a new section devoted to those two types of sets. The chapter concludes with the section on the cardinality of the number systems. 3) The chapter on the construction of the natural numbers, integers and rational numbers from the Peano Postulates was removed entirely. That material was originally included to provide the needed background about the number systems, particularly for the discussion of the cardinality of sets, but it was always somewhat out of place given the level and scope of this text. The background material about the natural numbers needed for the cardinality of sets has now been summarized in a new section at the start of that chapter, making the chapter both self-contained and more accessible than it previously was. 4) The section on families of sets has been thoroughly revised, with the focus being on families of sets in general, not necessarily thought of as indexed. 5) A new section about the convergence of sequences has been added to the chapter on selected topics. This new section, which treats a topic from real analysis, adds some diversity to the chapter, which had hitherto contained selected topics of only an algebraic or combinatorial nature. 6) A new section called ``You Are the Professor'' has been added to the end of the last chapter. This new section, which includes a number of attempted proofs taken from actual homework exercises submitted by students, offers the reader the opportunity to solidify her facility for writing proofs by critiquing these submissions as if she were the instructor for the course. 7) All known errors have been corrected. 8) Many minor adjustments of wording have been made throughout the text, with the hope of improving the exposition.