Kvant Selecta: Algebra and Analysis, I
This is a collection of articles that have previously appeared in the Russian popular journal \textit{Kvant}. The works selected for this volume demonstrate applications of algebra and analysis to the study of numbers. The slate of the authors is most impressive: M. I. Bashmakov, D. B. and M. B. Fuchs, G. A. Gal'perin, A. B. Goncharov, Yu. Ionin, A. Kirillov, M. G. Krein, L. G. Limanov, A. I. Shirshov, V. N. Vaguten (=N. B. Vasiliev and V. L. Gutenmacher) , and others. It becomes even more impressive in view of the fact that these ``serious mathematicians went out of their way to make their sophisticated material understandable by a broad readership, that includes not only professional mathematicians, but first of all gifted high school students and their teachers, and lay enthusiasts of mathematics. This book inherits this broad audience. In the preface the editor of the book, Sergey Tabachnikov, enthusiastically describes his experience with Kvant in the 1980s, when he was Kvant's author, and later an Editor. This preface is an important reading, for Kvant is a perfect model for replication worldwide. In fact, a sister journal \textit{Quantum}, consisting of translations from Kvant and some original material, has existed in the United States since 1990. Regretfully, all-powerful National Science Teachers Association and Springer-Verlag are implementing the title of one of James Bond movies, ``Live and Let Die: as a member of the Advisory Board, this reviewer was informed that July--August 2001 issue will be Quantum's last. The reviewer too recalls his affiliation with Kvant as an author, referee and representative to the National Math Olympiad, from Kvant's inception 1970 to the reviewer's departure for the Brave New World in 1978. Russia had numerous mathematics competitions, mathematical circles (clubs), and other extra-curricular activities. However, they were separated by distance and remedial communication. Kvant has instantly united mathematical activities of the country. It became a catalyst and inspiration for mathematics enthusiasts. Suddenly nobody was a mathematical nerd lost in time and space. It is hoped that the United States will find a way to resuscitate Quantum, and other lands to start a similar journal. It would provide fun, and in the process insure that baton is passed to new generation of mathematicians. The book can use some translation proofreading. In some places (pp. 13 and 19, for example), ``equation is used where ``equality is meant (equation cannot ``hold or be ``true). But such is life of all first editions. A broad readership would find this book a welcome edition to mathematics literature where rigor co-exists with fun and accessibility. For a review of Vol. II see Zbl 0960.00005 below.
- Kvant selecta: Combinatorics. I. Collection of articles translated by Hal McFaden from Russian editions of the journal Kvant
- Kvant Selecta: Algebra and Analysis, II
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 195042 (Why is no real title available?)
- Cubic polynomials, linear shifts, and Ramanujan simple cubics
- Extensions of semigroups by the dihedral groups and semigroup C∗-algebras
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