No label defined (Q4221192)

This article is based on an invited address delivered at the Garrett Birkhoff (1911-1996) Memorial Conference, Harvard University, 1997. The author expresses his opinions on the development and the perspectives of some areas of lattice theory. The titles of the chapters are: Distributive lattices; Modular lattices; Lattice of ideals; Linear lattices; Lattice theory and probability. In the introduction the author writes: ``Never in the history of mathematics has a mathematical theory been the object of such vociferous vituperation as lattice theory. Dedekind, Jónsson, Kurosh, Malcev, Ore, von Neumann, Tarski and most prominently Garrett Birkhoff have contributed a new vision of mathematics, a vision that has been cursed by a conjunction of misunderstandings, resentment, and raw prejudice.'' The article is concluded by the words of Professor Gelfand predicting that ``lattice theory will play a leading role in the mathematics of the twenty-first century''.