No comments about II: Fourier Analysis, Self-Adjointness, Volume 2 (Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics).

No comments about Fourier Integrals in Classical Analysis (Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics).

No comments about Wavelets and Operators: Vol. 37 (Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics).

No comments about Wave Packet Analysis (Cbms Regional Conference Series in Mathematics) (Cbms Regional Conference Series in Mathematics).

2 comments about Real Infinite Series (Classroom Resource Material) (Classroom Resource Materials).

1. I am pleased to say that I was one of the first to have this wonderful book. In all honesty - I don't understand anything in this book. I tried to just read chapter 1 - the definitions, and I fell asleep. I tried to read chapter 2 and I got a headache.
   
   However, I'm the father of one of the author's and I'm awfully proud of him!
   
   Please buy many copies.
   
   Mike Sr.



2. This is an excellent book. The prose is very readable and there are numerous illustrative examples to clarify the main points. Chapter 1 defines infinite series, discusses intuition and infinity, and covers the basic convergence tests. Chapter 2 covers the work of Cauchy and discusses more involved tests of convergence such as Kummer's results, the tests of Raabe and Gauss, and the tests of Abel. Chapter 3 examines the harmonic series. Chapter 4 covers a number of interesting results involving infinite series. Chapter 5 presents 101 problems involving infinite series from the Putnam Mathematical Competition. Answers to all problems are provided. Chapter 6 presents a plethora of puzzles, proofs without words, fallacious proofs, and fallacies, flaws, and flimflam. Answers to the puzzles are given. Two appendices present 101 True or False questions on infinite series with answers and a brief article on harmonic series. References, both books and journals, are also given. A brief but thorough index concludes the book. This book would serve very well as a resource for high school and college calculus teachers. Undergraduate mathematics majors with an interest in infinite series would find it appealing. Finally, readers like myself who majored in mathematics but pursued other careers would enjoy using it to refresh their knowledge of infinite series.(they may need to review a little calculus). The authors have produced a gem of a book and anyone who has a passion for mathematics will enjoy reading this volume. Chapters 1 and 6 are especially readable, informative, and enjoyable. Chapter 6 is just plain fun! Get your hands on a copy of this book as it will provide hours of fascinating reading and problem solving.

1 comments about The General Theory of Dirichlet's Series (Phoenix Edition).

1. This is a short (68 pages),intense and excelent book where are studied the Dirichlet's series ( the results are former to 1915). The author is an eminent mathematician, a great number theorist, G. H. Hardy.
   
   Rafael Jakimczuk

3 comments about First Course in Wavelets with Fourier Analysis.

1. At the time of writing of this review (October 2001), a standard academic search procedure
   produces about twenty references per week of scientific papers using wavelet analysis in a very wide spectrum of sciences. More than 160 english language books have been published on wavelets since the first books appeared around 1990. Yet even now it is rare to find a book on this subject which is aiming at undergraduate students and yet is mathematically responsible, without being heavy going. Boggess and Narcovich have tried to do just that, and to my mind have admirably succeeded.
   Assuming a standard background knowledge in calculus and linear algebra that many science and engineering students acquire in their first two years at university, they present the basics of Fourier analysis and wavelets in eight brief chapters. To prepare the way, they start in chapter 0 with an introduction to inner product spaces, without using advanced analysis, and building on the experience with ordinary vector spaces.
   Also a sniff of linear operator theory is offered.
   Chapter 1 introduces Fourier series in real and complex form. These originated in the eighteenth century study of vibrations and in the theory of heat, made famous by Fourier's classic book of 1808: Analytical Theory of Heat. The mathematical claims Fourier made, but which he could not all prove himself, gave the impetus to an enormous development of both mathematical theory and applications in all fields of natural science, which is still going on today. The applications briefly mentioned here are denoising and compression of signals, and finding the solution of partial differential equations. Various aspects of the convergence of Fourier series are dealt with. All concepts are illustrated with a good set of clear figures, and the chapter finishes with exercises that are going from very elementary to a little more ambitious, sometimes involving the use of simple computer algebra tasks. This format is maintained thorugh the entire text, except for the last chapter.
   Chapter 2 proceeds with the Fourier Transform, including the important theory of linear time invariant filters. The existence of the impulse response function and its convolution character are shown. As an example the noise reducing Butterworth filter is presented. Sampling and the Nyquist frequency are touched upon, and a derivation of the uncertainty relations, originally coming from quantum mechanics, is given.
   To analyse discrete data, one needs the discrete Fourier Transform, which is the subject of chapter 3, including of course the Fast Fourier Transform. Also the z-transform is introduced. Examples given are elementary cases of parameter identification in vibration, numerical solution of ordinary differential equations, as well as in the exercises: noise reduction and data compression.

   These first 153 pages serve as a good undergraduate introduction to Fourier analysis.
   The second half of the book is devoted to wavelets. Chapter 4 deals exclusively with Haar wavelets which are the oldest wavelets because they date from 1910! These wavelets constitute an orthonormal basis of functions, which makes for fast calucation, a very important aspect for many applications. The core ideas of the central concept of a "multiresolution analysis" of a signal, can be demonstrated with these simple wavelets. All of this is already understandable without the machinery of the preceding Fourier analysis, so you could jump into the book here and start reading about wavelets right away, picking up the Fourier analysis from the first part bit by bit as the need arises. As applications denoising and compression are mentioned again, as is the detection of a discontinuity in a signal.
   The general case of a multiresolution analysis is the subject of chapter 5. Again a large part of the discussion can be swallowed without the need of the Fourier transform point of view. The explanation of the structure of a multiresolution analysis leading to an orhtonormal basis of wavelets is straightforward and clear. It is only when we want to go into more detail about the precise characteristics of the underlying wavelet and scaling function that the Fourier point of view is introduced. This then leads up to the presentation of the famous Daubechies wavelets in chapter 6. These wavelets revolutionised the field after their publication in 1988.
   Chapter 7 which closes the book, gives several short remarks about various other topics among which are two-dimensional wavelets, and the continuous wavelet transform.
   This chapter is more sketchy than the others, and left me much less satisfied. Also the motivation why these subjects are chosen was lacking almost completely, and there are no exercises. I was particularly disappointed not to find any discussion of the relative merits of the continuous versus the discrete wavelet transform, and there is no mention of any application of the continuous case. Yet the latter is also used frequently in many important scientific applications, and it started the modern wavelet endeavour in the early eighties in France.
   That being said I still think this is a very useful book for anybody wanting to start with wavelets at an undergraduate level. A few helpful Matlab Codes are collected in an appendix as well as the more difficult parts of some proofs. The exercises make this good course material, but as a text for self study it will also be quite satisfactory for many newcomers that find most of the existing books too demanding.




2. ...this book is one of most informative and legible books on wavelt theories and applications.

   The author paves the theoretical development about wavelets and multi-resolution analysis EXCELLENTLY. With this book, you can construct wavelets for your own applications in engineering and science disciplines.

   This book is very good for first year engineering-majored graduate students and all engineering scholars.




3. If you want to learn Wavelet theory in a easy way like reading a story book then this is the book. It deals with the most complicated thing in the easiest way.

5 comments about Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems.

1. This is a great book that gives precise examples which are easy to comprehend. Dr. Brown proves to be an excellent author once again.



2. I found Dr. Brown, in conjunction with Dr. Churchill, to have written a very dry and non-useful text. It fails to provide the undergraduate student with the resources and background information that more highly touted books offer. There are a few examples that are somewhat helpful, but overall I found myself having to use reference texts to supplement this one. I am not a math major, but am continually searching for good math texts to help me grasp the fundamentals of more difficult topics. I did not find that help here. Too much 'math prose' and not enough to-the-point definitions and examples, which is the cry of every non-math major. Their treatment of the Laplacian is not even worth the bother of placing it in the book. The physical size of the book is small, (9 1/2 by 6") with 335 pages. Not nearly enough for the treatment of its titled subject.



3. My first encounter with partial differential equations was out of this book. Since then, I've had another course on pde's, and used this book as a reference quite often. Fourier Series adn Boundary Value Problems is very much like Complex Variables and Applicatoins, also by Churchill and Brown. It's accessible to a large audience. Though it would help to have had an advanced calculus course, it isn't necessary to understand the mechanics of solving pde's (namely the variables seperable cases, which is mostly what's in this book). If you're an undergraduate math, engineering or physics student, you'll probably be using this book.



4. This book is quite thorough, but remains easy to follow (considering the material). It starts out with partial differential equations (no previous PDE experience needed) and shows where Fourier series comes from, which I found motivating since the purpose of Fourier Analysis was evident from the beginning. It then goes into making solutions of arbitrary functions out of sine and cosine functions as well as touching on other orthogonal sets.

   The book's main focus is on starting with PDEs and ending with a solution of a Fourier series.

   The first chapter was the hardest since the approaches to problems were much different than in calculus, but after adjusting to the material and the approaches to the problems, it gets easier!




5. So you're familiar with my background, I received a B.S. in Astrophysics and now I am a first year graduate student in an Applied Math program. I used this book as a supplementary resource when studying Partial Differential Equations - we got to Separation of Variables and then to Fourier Series. Every Physics student who graduates today has at least seen a Fourier Series (I hope). I didn't feel confident in my abilities so I bought this book to review.
   
   Let me tell you, if this is your first time hearing about Fourier Series then this book is simply the BEST book to learn Fourier Series and much of the beautiful underlying theory behind Fourier Analysis! It's so well written and clear that I had absolutely no trouble following the text. I cannot express how clear and beautifully it is written, it is extremely rare for a math book at this level to be so vivid and eloquent! The proofs are easy to follow and the problems ease you into the subject presented in each section; which, in turn, are "bite-sized" and manageable. I studied the material by myself and walked away knowing Fourier Series.
   
   There are plenty of good examples, the problems are great! If you're self-studying (or not) do as many of the problems as you can; if you read the previous two or three sections you should have absolutely no trouble going through the problems. Applications galore!
   
   NOTE: This book isn't written at the graduate level, don't shy away from it because I mentioned being a grad student, I just wanted a review of Fourier Series. If I had to rate the level of the book I would say it's at a beginning upper-division level of a typical american university. If you've had a decent multi-variable calculus class, and are comfortable with partial derivatives, this book should be very comprehensible. It's clearer still to physics majors (or the like) who are more familiar with what and where specific equations apply to.
   
   This book is beautiful, and I think it should be required reading of every physics and applied math student everywhere (maybe I'm just a little biased).
   
   The ONLY caveat is that the Fourier Complex Series is left to problems, we don't get to use them to learn theory and get more comfortable with. This is okay since the cosine and sine series are equivalent to the complex series, it's just that the complex series is more elegant when doing problems or proving things.

2 comments about Uses of Infinity.

1. This book was my first introduction to the infinite. Although it is easy enough for undergraduate study, all will find Zippin's book scintillating and fascinating. A great read for anyone interested in this subject!



2. Zippin's engaging text examines how infinity arises in mathematics. It requires only a solid grounding in high school mathematics and a willingness to think. However, it will most profitably be read by those who are familiar with calculus.
   
   After a brief overview, Zippin begins within the natural numbers. He shows how inductive reasoning is used to search for patterns that can be used to prove results about infinite sequences and series. He examines limits of sequences and series from a geometric point of view. In particular, he considers geometric series and the Fibonacci sequence, using the latter to explore the properties of the golden rectangle. He concludes the text by discussing recursive definition, proofs by mathematical induction, and the pigeon hole principle.
   
   I found the material intriguing and the exposition generally clear. However, there were places where I felt that definitions were imprecise. His proof that the square root of 2 is irrational, while elegant, is harder to generalize than other proofs of that result. Zippin uses numerous examples to illustrate the results that he proves.
   
   Zippin's decision to examine limits from a geometric standpoint provides an interesting alternative to the analytical approach taken in calculus courses. It also helps the reader understand his arguments in his chapter on how the golden rectangle is related to the golden mean and the Fibonacci numbers.
   
   The exericses, for which answers are provided in the back of the text, are thought-provoking and some are quite challenging. I found reading his solutions instructive.
   
   Zippin provides a now dated (the text was published in 1962) bibliography so that the reader can explore the topics he discusses further. The reader may wish to consult the texts Invitation to Number Theory (New Mathematical Library) by Oystein Ore and Numbers: Rational and Irrational (New Mathematical Library) by Ivan Niven while reading this text.

No comments about A First Course in Fourier Analysis.