make it look much more logical, but actually it happens quite differently. Atiyah [2004 ] The monographs A. F. Monna: Functional Analysis in Historical Perspective (1973), and J. Dieudonne: ´ History of Functional Analysis (1981), as well as all articles devoted to the history of functional analysis deal only with the development before 1950. Now the time has come to cover the second half of the twentieth century too. I have undertaken this adventure. Let me introduce myself by telling you that I received my M. Sc. degree in 1958, just at the time when the renaissance of Banach space theory started. Thus I have ?rst-hand experience of the progress achieved during the past 50 years. Due to the explosion of knowledge, writing about functional analysis as a whole seems to be no longer possible. Hence this book is focused on Banach spaces and (abstract bounded) linear operators. Other subjects such as topologies, measures and integrals, locally convex linear spaces, Banach lattices, and Banach algebras are treated only in so far as they turn out to be relevant for this purpose. The interplay with set theory is described carefully: Which axioms are needed in order to prove the Hahn-Banach theorem? Results about non-self-adjoint operators on Hilbert spaces have been a source of inspiration for the theory of operators on Banach spaces. Such topics are discussed in great detail. However, I have omitted almost all operator-theoretic considerations that depend decisively on the existence of an inner product.
Reviews / Votes
From the reviews:
"This fundamental and interesting monograph is devoted to the history (and not only) of a remarkable and rich branch of up-to-date mathematics...
I recommend this book to all who are interested in Functional Analysis, to beginners and researchers, all students and all professors who deal with Functional Analysis and its applications. And I think that this book will be useful to each mathematical library."-Zantralblatt Math
"Pietsch's treatment of the early stages of Banach space theory and related areas is very nice and interesting. It contains much information I was not aware of before reading this book. . it can give the novice to the subject a good overview of what Banach space theory is about. . The book is written in a friendly style and is very readable. . I recommend this book to anyone interested in functional analysis . and even to the general mathematical community." (Joram Lindenstrauss, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 i)
"There is a relatively large amount of works devoted to the prehistory of functional analysis and its birth in the classical Banach period, but this monograph is exceptional in its focus on the whole 20th century. . the author . has successfully brought together a respectable amount of material concerning Banach spaces and linear operators. . The book will be certainly useful not only to researchers, but also to students. . I can warmly recommend this book 'to all who love Banach spaces.'" (Antonín Slavík, Mathematica Bohemica, Issue 2, 2010)
Edition
Language
Place of publication
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
82 s/w Abbildungen
XXIII, 855 p. 82 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 42 mm
Weight
ISBN-13
978-0-8176-4367-6 (9780817643676)
DOI
10.1007/978-0-8176-4596-0
Schweitzer Classification
The Birth of Banach Spaces.- Historical Roots and Basic Results.- Topological Concepts - Weak Topologies.- Classical Banach Spaces.- Basic Results from the Post-Banach Period.- Modern Banach Space Theory - Selected Topics.- Miscellaneous Topics.- Mathematics Is Made by Mathematicians.
