Prime numbers and computer methods for factorization (Q5894277)

It is a great pleasure to see this book available again, now as part of the Modern Classics series of Birkhäuser. Having reviewed the author's excellent introductory book on prime numbers (in Swedish) in 1968 (see the review in Zbl 0286.10004) it has been impressive to see how these topics developed in the future as shown a.o. in the author's two previous editions from 1985 [see Zbl 0582.10001] and 1994 [Zbl 0821.11001]. The contents of this real classic has been praised in the reviews of these editions. Taking up te Riele's recommendation in his review of the first edition (to buy two copies -- one for the office and one for at home) the reviewer highly recommends this book to anyone who doesn't have it yet. I would like to close this review by citing the publisher's description to provide a short survey on the topics treated masterly: ``The highly successful first edition of this title investigated the mathematical underpinnings of computer encryption, a discipline drawing heavily on the factorization of large numbers into primes. The book served a broad audience of researchers, students, practitioners of cryptography, and non-scientific readers with a mathematical inclination, treating four fundamental problems: the number of primes below a given limit, the approximate number of primes, the recognition of primes, and the factorization of large numbers. The second edition of the work, released in 1994, expanded significantly upon the original book, including important advances in computational prime number theory and factorization, as well as revised and updated tables. With explicit algorithms and computer programs, the author illustrated applications while attempting to discuss many classically important results along with more modern discoveries. Although it has been over a decade since the publication of this second edition, the theory it contained remains still highly relevant, and the particular cryptosystem it addressed (RSA public-key) is ubiquitous. Therefore, in addition to providing a historical perspective on many of the issues in modern prime number theory and data encryption, this soft cover version -- which reproduces the second edition exactly as it originally appeared -- offers affordable access to a great deal of valuable information. Highly readable for a wide variety of mathematicians, students of applied number theory, and others, this modern classic will be of interest to anyone involved in the study of number theory and cryptography.''