Jean Leray (1906-1998) was one of the great French mathematicians of his
century. His life's work can be divided into 3 major areas, reflected in
these 3 volumes. Volume I, to which an Introduction has been contributed
by A. Borel, covers Leray's seminal work in algebraic topology, where he
created sheaf theory and discovered the spectral sequences. Volume II,
with an introduction by P. Lax, covers fluid mechanics and partial
differential equations. Leray demonstrated the existence of the
infinite-time extension of weak solutions of the Navier-Stokes
equations; 60 years later this profound work has retained all its
impact. Volume III, on the theory of several complex variables, has a
long introduction by G. Henkin. Leray's work on the ramified Cauchy
problem will stand for centuries alongside the Cauchy-Kovalevska theorem
for the unramified case.
He was awarded the Malaxa Prize (1938), the Grand Prix in Mathematical
Sciences (1940), the Feltrinelli Prize (1971), the Wolf Prize in
Mathematics (1979), and the Lomonosov Gold Medal (1988).