Jorge Martinez - Böcker

'Et moi, ...si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point alit.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs. on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. able to do something with it. Eric T. Bcll o. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and nOD- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 1991 Conrad Conference, held in Gainesville, Florida, USA, in December, 1991. Together, these give an overview of some recent advances in the area of ordered algebraic structures. The first part of this text is devoted to ordered permutation groups and universal, as well as model-theoretic, aspects. The second part deals with material variously connected to general topology and functional analysis. Collectively, the contents of the book aim to demonstrate the wide applicability of order-theoretic methods, and how ordered algebraic structures have connections with many research disciplines. For researchers and graduate students whose work involves ordered algebraic structures.

The conference on Ordered Algebraic Structures held in Curat;ao, from the 26th of June through the 30th of June, 1995, at the Avila Beach Hotel, marked the eighth year of ac­ tivities by the Caribbean Mathematics Foundation (abbr. CMF), which was the principal sponsor of this conference. CMF was inaugurated in 1988 with a conference on Ordered Algebraic Structures. During the years between these two conferences the field has changed sufficiently, both from my point of view and, I believe, that of my co-organizer, W. Charles Holland, to make one wonder about the label "Ordered Algebraic Structures" itself. We recognized this from the start, and right away this conference carried a subtitle, or, if one prefers, an agenda: we concentrated on the one hand, on traditional themes in the theory of ordered groups, including model-theoretic aspects, and, on the other hand, on matters in which topology (more precisely C(X)-style topology) and category theory would play a prominent role. Plainly, ordered algebra has many faces, and it is becoming increas­ ingly difficult to organize an intimate conference, such as the ones encouraged in the series sponsored by CMF, in this area on a broad set of themes. These proceedings reflect, accurately we think, the spirit of the conferees, but it is not a faithful record of the papers presented at the conference.

This publication surveys some of the disciplines within ordered algebraic structures and also contains chapters highlighting a broad spectrum of research interests. In all, this book represents a reasonably accurate cross-section of the state of the art in ordered algebraic structures.

This publication surveys some of the disciplines within ordered algebraic structures and also contains chapters highlighting a broad spectrum of research interests. In all, this book represents a reasonably accurate cross-section of the state of the art in ordered algebraic structures.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 1991 Conrad Conference, held in Gainesville, Florida, USA, in December, 1991. Together, these give an overview of some recent advances in the area of ordered algebraic structures. The first part of the book is devoted to ordered permutation groups and universal, as well as model-theoretic, aspects. The second part deals with material variously connected to general topology and functional analysis. Collectively, the contents of the book demonstrate the wide applicability of order-theoretic methods, and how ordered algebraic structures have connections with many research disciplines.For researchers and graduate students whose work involves ordered algebraic structures.

'Et moi, ...si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point alit.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs. on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. able to do something with it. Eric T. Bcll o. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and nOD- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.