This book offers an excursion through the developmental area of research mathematics. It presents some 40 papers, published between the 1870s and the 1970s, on proofs of the Cantor-Bernstein theorem and the related Bernstein division theorem. While the emphasis is placed on providing accurate proofs, similar to the originals, the discussion is broadened to include aspects that pertain to the methodology of the development of mathematics and to the philosophy of mathematics. Works of prominent mathematicians and logicians are reviewed, including Cantor, Dedekind, Schröder, Bernstein, Borel, Zermelo, Poincaré, Russell, Peano, the Königs, Hausdorff, Sierpinski, Tarski, Banach, Brouwer and several others mainly of the Polish and the Dutch schools. In its attempt to present a diachronic narrative of one mathematical topic, the book resembles Lakatos’ celebrated book Proofs and Refutations. Indeed, some of the observations made by Lakatos are corroborated herein. The analogy between the two books is clearly anything but superficial, as the present book also offers new theoretical insights into the methodology of the development of mathematics (proof-processing), with implications for the historiography of mathematics.

Many students have trouble the first time they take a mathematics course in which proofs play a significant role. This new edition of Velleman's successful text will prepare students to make the transition from solving problems to proving theorems by teaching them the techniques needed to read and write proofs. The book begins with the basic concepts of logic and set theory, to familiarize students with the language of mathematics and how it is interpreted. These concepts are used as the basis for a step-by-step breakdown of the most important techniques used in constructing proofs. The author shows how complex proofs are built up from these smaller steps, using detailed 'scratch work' sections to expose the machinery of proofs about the natural numbers, relations, functions, and infinite sets. To give students the opportunity to construct their own proofs, this new edition contains over 200 new exercises, selected solutions, and an introduction to Proof Designer software. No background beyond standard high school mathematics is assumed. This book will be useful to anyone interested in logic and proofs: computer scientists, philosophers, linguists, and of course mathematicians.

This book, based on Pólya's method of problem solving, aids students in their transition to higher-level mathematics. It begins by providing a great deal of guidance on how to approach definitions, examples, and theorems in mathematics and ends by providing projects for independent study. Students will follow Pólya's four step process: learn to understand the problem; devise a plan to solve the problem; carry out that plan; and look back and check what the results told them.

According to the great mathematician Paul Erdös, God maintains perfect mathematical proofs in The Book. This book presents the authors candidates for such "perfect proofs," those which contain brilliant ideas, clever connections, and wonderful observations, bringing new insight and surprising perspectives to problems from number theory, geometry, analysis, combinatorics, and graph theory. As a result, this book will be fun reading for anyone with an interest in mathematics.

The main notions of set theory (cardinals, ordinals, transfinite induction) are fundamental to all mathematicians, not only to those who specialize in mathematical logic or set-theoretic topology. Basic set theory is generally given a brief overview in courses on analysis, algebra, or topology, even though it is sufficiently important, interesting, and simple to merit its own leisurely treatment. This book provides just that: a leisurely exposition for a diversified audience. It is suitable for a broad range of readers, from undergraduate students to professional mathematicians who want to finally find out what transfinite induction is and why it is always replaced by Zorn's Lemma. The text introduces all main subjects of ``naive'' (nonaxiomatic) set theory: functions, cardinalities, ordered and well-ordered sets, transfinite induction and its applications, ordinals, and operations on ordinals. Included are discussions and proofs of the Cantor-Bernstein Theorem, Cantor's diagonal method, Zorn's Lemma, Zermelo's Theorem, and Hamel bases. With over 150 problems, the book is a complete and accessible introduction to the subject.

Gallery of the Infinite is a mathematician's unique view of the infinitely many sizes of infinity. Written in a playful yet informative style, it introduces important concepts from set theory (including the Cantor Diagonalization Method and the Cantor-Bernstein Theorem) using colorful pictures, with little text and almost no formulas. It requires no specialized background and is suitable for anyone with an interest in the infinite, from advanced middle-school students to inquisitive adults.

Proofs and Ideas serves as a gentle introduction to advanced mathematics for students who previously have not had extensive exposure to proofs. It is intended to ease the student's transition from algorithmic mathematics to the world of mathematics that is built around proofs and concepts. The spirit of the book is that the basic tools of abstract mathematics are best developed in context and that creativity and imagination are at the core of mathematics. So, while the book has chapters on statements and sets and functions and induction, the bulk of the book focuses on core mathematical ideas and on developing intuition. Along with chapters on elementary combinatorics and beginning number theory, this book contains introductory chapters on real analysis, group theory, and graph theory that serve as gentle first exposures to their respective areas. The book contains hundreds of exercises, both routine and non-routine. This book has been used for a transition to advanced mathematics courses at California State University, Northridge, as well as for a general education course on mathematical reasoning at Krea University, India.

This book grew out of my interest in what is common to three disciplines: mathematics, philosophy, and history. The origins of Zermelo's Axiom of Choice, as well as the controversy that it engendered, certainly lie in that intersection. Since the time of Aristotle, mathematics has been concerned alternately with its assumptions and with the objects, such as number and space, about which those assumptions were made. In the historical context of Zermelo's Axiom, I have explored both the vagaries and the fertility of this alternating concern. Though Zermelo's research has provided the focus for this book, much of it is devoted to the problems from which his work originated and to the later developments which, directly or indirectly, he inspired. A few remarks about format are in order. In this book a publication is indicated by a date after a name; so Hilbert 1926, 178 refers to page 178 of an article written by Hilbert, published in 1926, and listed in the bibliography.