One service mathematics has rendered the 'Et moi ....- si favait su
comment en revenir, je human race. It has put common sense back n'y
serais point a1l6.' lules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf
next to the dusty eanister labelled 'discarded nonsense' . Erie T. Bell
The series is divergent; therefore we may be able to do something with
it O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary
tool in a world where both feedback and nonlineari- ties abound.
Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other
parts and for other sci- ences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the
quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One ser- vice
topology has rendered mathematical physics .. .'; 'One service logic has
rendered computer 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 specia1ization and diversification
have brought a host of monographs and textbooks on increasingly
specialized topics. However, the 'tree' of knowledge of mathematics and
It also happens, quite often in related fields does not grow only by
putting forth new branches.