Book Description

Index Theory is one of the most exciting and consequential accomplishments of 20th-century mathematics. This book contemplates the four great mathematicians who developed index theory - Sir Michael Atiyah, Raoul Bott, Friedrich Hirzebruch, and I M Singer. It presents a variety of material of a personal as well as mathematical nature. This second edition of Founders of Index Theory remembers the late and much beloved Raoul Bott - in the affectionate words of those three men, as well as family members and long-time friends and colleagues. What emerges is the portrait of a compelling mathematical mind informed by a warm and magnetic personality that was both a joy and inspiration to those who knew him. This volume includes a generous collection of color and black-and-white photographs - many rarely seen - of the four principal figures together with their family, friends, and colleagues. The Founders of Index Theory, Second Edition is a valuable portrayal of four men who transformed mathematics in a profound manner, and who belong to a class of researchers whose interest and influence transcend the conventional boundaries of mathematical fields.