E-Book Overview
This elementary presentation exposes readers to both the process of rigor and the rewards inherent in taking an axiomatic approach to the study of functions of a real variable. The aim is to challenge and improve mathematical intuition rather than to verify it. The philosophy of this book is to focus attention on questions which give analysis its inherent fascination. Each chapter begins with the discussion of some motivating examples and concludes with a series of questions.
E-Book Content
Preface My primary goal in writing Understanding Analysis was to create an elementary one-semester book that exposes students to the rich rewards inherent in taking a mathematically rigorous approach to the study of functions of a real variable. The aim of a course in real analysis should be to challenge and improve mathematical intuition rather than to verify it. There is a tendency, however, to center an introductory course too closely around the familiar theorems of the standard calculus sequence. Producing a rigorous argument that polynomials are continuous is good evidence for a well-chosen definition of continuity, but it is not the reason the subject was created and certainly not the reason it should be required study. By shifting the focus to topics where an untrained intuition is severely disadvantaged (e.g., rearrangements of infinite series, nowhere-differentiable continuous functions, Fourier series), my intent is to restore an intellectual liveliness to this course by offering the beginning student access to some truly significant achievements of the subject.
The Main Objectives In recent years, the standard undergraduate curriculum in mathematics has been subjected to steady pressure from several different sources. As computers and technology become more ubiquitous, so do the areas where mathematical thinking can be a valuable asset. Rather than preparing themselves for