From the reviews: "The work is one of the real classics of this century; it has had much influence on teaching, on research in several branches of hard analysis, particularly complex function theory, and it has been an essential indispensable source book for those seriously interested in mathematical problems." Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society

From the reviews: "The work is one of the real classics of this century; it has had much influence on teaching, on research in several branches of hard analysis, particularly complex function theory, and it has been an essential indispensable source book for those seriously interested in mathematical problems." Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society

Even the simplest mathematical abstraction of the phenomena of reality the real line-can be regarded from different points of view by different mathematical disciplines. For example, the algebraic approach to the study of the real line involves describing its properties as a set to whose elements we can apply" operations," and obtaining an algebraic model of it on the basis of these properties, without regard for the topological properties. On the other hand, we can focus on the topology of the real line and construct a formal model of it by singling out its" continuity" as a basis for the model. Analysis regards the line, and the functions on it, in the unity of the whole system of their algebraic and topological properties, with the fundamental deductions about them obtained by using the interplay between the algebraic and topological structures. The same picture is observed at higher stages of abstraction. Algebra studies linear spaces, groups, rings, modules, and so on. Topology studies structures of a different kind on arbitrary sets, structures that give mathe matical meaning to the concepts of a limit, continuity, a neighborhood, and so on. Functional analysis takes up topological linear spaces, topological groups, normed rings, modules of representations of topological groups in topological linear spaces, and so on. Thus, the basic object of study in functional analysis consists of objects equipped with compatible algebraic and topological structures.

This volume contains a variety of problems from classical set theory and represents the first comprehensive collection of such problems. Many of these problems are also related to other fields of mathematics, including algebra, combinatorics, topology and real analysis. Rather than using drill exercises, most problems are challenging and require work, wit, and inspiration. They vary in difficulty, and are organized in such a way that earlier problems help in the solution of later ones. For many of the problems, the authors also trace the history of the problems and then provide proper reference at the end of the solution.

Few mathematical books are worth translating 50 years after original publication. Polyá-Szegö is one! It was published in German in 1924, and its English edition was widely acclaimed when it appeared in 1972. In the past, more of the leading mathematicians proposed and solved problems than today. Their collection of the best in analysis is a heritage of lasting value.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught. Oscar Wilde, “The Critic as Artist,” 1890. Analysis is a profound subject; it is neither easy to understand nor summarize. However, Real Analysis can be discovered by solving problems. This book aims to give independent students the opportunity to discover Real Analysis by themselves through problem solving. ThedepthandcomplexityofthetheoryofAnalysiscanbeappreciatedbytakingaglimpseatits developmental history. Although Analysis was conceived in the 17th century during the Scienti?c Revolution, it has taken nearly two hundred years to establish its theoretical basis. Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Fermat, Newton and Leibniz were among those who contributed to its genesis. Deep conceptual changes in Analysis were brought about in the 19th century by Cauchy and Weierstrass. Furthermore, modern concepts such as open and closed sets were introduced in the 1900s. Today nearly every undergraduate mathematics program requires at least one semester of Real Analysis. Often, students consider this course to be the most challenging or even intimidating of all their mathematics major requirements. The primary goal of this book is to alleviate those concerns by systematically solving the problems related to the core concepts of most analysis courses. In doing so, we hope that learning analysis becomes less taxing and thereby more satisfying.