The symposium "MEGA-90 - Effective Methods in Algebraic Geome try" was held in Castiglioncello (Livorno, Italy) in April 17-211990. The themes - we quote from the "Call for papers" - were the fol lowing: - Effective methods and complexity issues in commutative algebra, pro jective geometry, real geometry, algebraic number theory - Algebraic geometric methods in algebraic computing Contributions in related fields (computational aspects of group theory, differential algebra and geometry, algebraic and differential topology, etc.) were also welcome. The origin and the motivation of such a meeting, that is supposed to be the first of a series, deserves to be explained. The subject - the theory and the practice of computation in alge braic geometry and related domains from the mathematical viewpoin- has been one of the themes of the symposia organized by SIGSAM (the Special Interest Group for Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation of the Association for Computing Machinery), SAME (Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation in Europe), and AAECC (the semantics of the name is vary ing; an average meaning is "Applied Algebra and Error Correcting Codes").

The symposium "MEGA-90 - Effective Methods in Algebraic Geome try" was held in Castiglioncello (Livorno, Italy) in April 17-211990. The themes - we quote from the "Call for papers" - were the fol lowing: - Effective methods and complexity issues in commutative algebra, pro jective geometry, real geometry, algebraic number theory - Algebraic geometric methods in algebraic computing Contributions in related fields (computational aspects of group theory, differential algebra and geometry, algebraic and differential topology, etc.) were also welcome. The origin and the motivation of such a meeting, that is supposed to be the first of a series, deserves to be explained. The subject - the theory and the practice of computation in alge braic geometry and related domains from the mathematical viewpoin- has been one of the themes of the symposia organized by SIGSAM (the Special Interest Group for Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation of the Association for Computing Machinery), SAME (Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation in Europe), and AAECC (the semantics of the name is vary ing; an average meaning is "Applied Algebra and Error Correcting Codes").

"Presents the structure of algebras appearing in representation theory of groups and algebras with general ring theoretic methods related to representation theory. Covers affine algebraic sets and the nullstellensatz, polynomial and rational functions, projective algebraic sets. Groebner basis, dimension of algebraic sets, local theory, curves and elliptic curves, and more."

An illustration of the many uses of algebraic geometry, highlighting the more recent applications of Groebner bases and resultants. Along the way, the authors provide an introduction to some algebraic objects and techniques more advanced than typically encountered in a first course. The book is accessible to non-specialists and to readers with a diverse range of backgrounds, assuming readers know the material covered in standard undergraduate courses, including abstract algebra. But because the text is intended for beginning graduate students, it does not require graduate algebra, and in particular, does not assume that the reader is familiar with modules.

This volume's papers present work at the cutting edge of current research in algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, numerical analysis, and other related fields, with an emphasis on the breadth of these areas and the beneficial results obtained by the interactions between these fields. This collection of two survey articles and sixteen refereed research papers, written by experts in these fields, gives the reader a greater sense of some of the directions in which this research is moving, as well as a better idea of how these fields interact with each other and with other applied areas. The topics include blowup algebras, linkage theory, Hilbert functions, divisors, vector bundles, determinantal varieties, (square-free) monomial ideals, multiplicities and cohomological degrees, and computer vision.

An introduction to abstract algebraic geometry, with the only prerequisites being results from commutative algebra, which are stated as needed, and some elementary topology. More than 400 exercises distributed throughout the book offer specific examples as well as more specialised topics not treated in the main text, while three appendices present brief accounts of some areas of current research. This book can thus be used as textbook for an introductory course in algebraic geometry following a basic graduate course in algebra. Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. He is the author of "Residues and Duality", "Foundations of Projective Geometry", "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties", and numerous research titles.