Collected Works: Volume 1: Early Papers; General Papers

by Michael Francis Atiyah

One of the greatest mathematicians in the world, Michael Atiyah has earned numerous honors, including a Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. While the focus of his work has been in the areas of algebraic geometry and topology, he has also participated in research with theoretical physicists. For the first time, these volumes bring together Atiyah's collected papers--both monographs and collaborative works-- including those dealing with mathematical education and current topics of research such as K-theory and gauge theory. The volumes are organized thematically. They will be of great interest to research mathematicians, theoretical physicists, and graduate students in these areas.

392 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 1988

About the author

Sir Michael Francis was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry.

Reviews

[Andrew]

Vector Bundles over an Elliptic Curve, in particular, is an interesting snapshot of mathematics in 1957, with an interesting relationship to both algebraic geometry and the development of what would become K-theory.

Also, in the general papers section, An Interview with Michael Atiyah in the Mathematical Intelligencer is interesting. I particularly like the quote: "George Mackey once said to me something that I think is very true. In a given area of mathematics the things that are important are quite often not the most technically difficult parts -- the hardest things to prove. They are quite often the more elementary things because those are the parts that have the widest interaction with other fields and other areas -- they have the widest impact."