Herbert Robbins – författare

For more than two thousand years a familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today, unfortunately, the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. The teaching and learning of mathematics has degenerated into the realm of rote memorization, the outcome of which leads to satisfactory formal ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater intellectual independence. This new edition of Richard Courant's and Herbert Robbins's classic work seeks to address this problem. Its goal is to put the meaning back into mathematics. Written for beginners and scholars, for students and teachers, for philosophers and engineers, What is Mathematics?, Second Edition is a sparkling collection of mathematical gems that offers an entertaining and accessible portrait of the mathematical world. Covering everything from natural numbers and the number system to geometrical constructions and projective geometry, from topology and calculus to matters of principle and the Continuum Hypothesis, this fascinating survey allows readers to delve into mathematics as an organic whole rather than an empty drill in problem solving. With chapters largely independent of one another and sections that lead upward from basic to more advanced discussions, readers can easily pick and choose areas of particular interest without impairing their understanding of subsequent parts. Brought up to date with a new chapter by Ian Stewart, What is Mathematics?, Second Edition offers new insights into recent mathematical developments and describes proofs of the Four-Color Theorem and Fermat's Last Theorem, problems that were still open when Courant and Robbins wrote this masterpiece, but ones that have since been solved.Formal mathematics is like spelling and grammar--a matter of the correct application of local rules. Meaningful mathematics is like journalism--it tells an interesting story. But unlike some journalism, the story has to be true. The best mathematics is like literature--it brings a story to life before your eyes and involves you in it, intellectually and emotionally. What is Mathematics is like a fine piece of literature--it opens a window onto the world of mathematics for anyone interested to view.

Herbert Robbins is widely recognized as one of the most creative and original mathematical statisticians of our time. The purpose of this book is to reprint, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, some of his most outstanding research. In making selections for reprinting we have tried to keep in mind three potential audiences: (1) the historian who would like to know Robbins' seminal role in stimulating a substantial proportion of current research in mathematical statistics; (2) the novice who would like a readable, conceptually oriented introduction to these subjects; and (3) the expert who would like to have useful reference material in a single collection. In many cases the needs of the first two groups can be met simulta­ neously. A distinguishing feature of Robbins' research is its daring originality, which literally creates new specialties for subsequent generations of statisticians to explore. Often these seminal papers are also models of exposition serving to introduce thereader, in the simplest possible context, to ideas that are important for contemporary research in the field. An example is the paper of Robbins and Monro which initiated the subject of stochastic approximation. We have also attempted to provide some useful guidance to the literature in various subjects by supplying additional references, particularly to books and survey articles, with some remarks about important developments in these areas.

Mathematik ist nicht jedermanns Sache. Wer sie liebt, für den ist sie spannend und aufregend wie das schönste Rätsel. Für viele Menschen aber ist Mathematik ein Buch mit sieben Siegeln, das man ehrfurchtsvoll den "Eingeweihten" überläßt. Das Ziel von Was ist Mathematik? ist es, Brücken zu schlagen und jeden einzuladen, das Reich der Mathematik zu betreten, der neugierig genug ist, sich auf ein Abenteuer einzulassen. Die Autoren verschweigen nicht, daß Mathematik neben Begabung auch viel Fleiß und Mitdenken erfordert: man sollte sich mit ihr beschäftigen, nicht nur über sie philosophieren. Wer aber bereit ist, beides einzusetzen, den führen die Autoren mit großem Geschick und anschaulichen Hilfsmitteln hin zu einem Einblick in das innere Gefüge der Mathematik sowie ihrer historischen Entwicklung. Behandelt werden die Fragenkomplexe: Zahlen, geometrische Konstruktionen, Algebra der Zahlkörper, projektive Geometrie, Axiomatik, nichteuklidische Geometrien, Topologie, Funktionen, Grenzwerte, Extrema und Infinitesimalrechnung. Was ist Mathematik? ist für Leser jeden Alters und jeder Vorbildung gedacht. Gymnasiallehrer finden eine reiche Auswahl an Beispielen, Studenten ist es ein Leitfaden, wenn sie die Orientierung zu verlieren meinen, und Dozenten werden sich an den Feinheiten der Darstellung zweier Meister ihres Faches erfreuen.