author : David Applebaum

Almost ail textbooks on introductory analysis assume some background in calculus. This book doesn’t and, instead, the emphasis is on the application of analysis to the structure of numbers. The book is split into two parts. Part I follows a standard university course on analysis and each chapter closes with a set of exercises. Here, numbers, inequalities, convergence of sequences, and infinite series are all covered. Part II contains a selection of more unusual topics that aren’t usually found in books of this type. It includes proofs of the irrationality of e and π, continued fractions, an introduction to the Riemann zeta function, Cantor’s theory of the infinite, and Dedekind cuts. There is also a survey of what analysis can do for the calculus and a brief history of the subject.

A lot of material found in a standard university course on ‘real analysis’ is covered and most of the mathematics is written in standard theorem-proof style. However, more details are given than is usually the case to help readers who find this style daunting. Set theory and proof by induction are avoided in the interests of making the book accessible to a wider readership, but both of these topics are the subjects of appendices for those who seek to deepen their understanding. And unlike most university texts at this level, topics that have featured in popular science books, such as the Riemann hypothesis, are introduced here. As a result, this book occupies a unique position between a popular mathematics book and a first year college or university text, and offers a relaxed introduction to a fascinating and important branch of mathematics,