Stochastics, Algebra and Analysis in Classical and Quantum Dynamics: Proceedings of the IVth French-German Encounter on Mathematics and Physics, CIRM, ... 1988 (Mathematics and Its Applications)

'Et moi, "'f si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point aile':' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, 011 the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is divergent; therefore we may be able to do something with it. Eric T. Bell o. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non­ Iinearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics . . . '; 'One service logic has rendered com­ puter science . . . '; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics . . . '. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series_ This series, Mathematics and Its Applications, started in 1977. Now that over one hundred volumes have appeared it seems opportune to reexamine its scope. At the time I wrote ''Growing specialization and diversification have brought a host of monographs and textbooks on increasingly specialized topics. However, the 'tree' of knowledge of mathematics and related fields does not grow only by putting forth new branches.