Methods of Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

“THIS volume is the first part of a work designed it provide a convenient account of the foundations and methods of modem algebraic geometry.” These words from the authors' preface explain the scope of the present volume and account for the selection of topics treated. It has become increasingly clear in recent years that a rigorous treatment of algebraic geometry must be based, to a much greater extent than the classical accounts of the subject, on algebraic principles. It is therefore no occasion for surprise that more than a third of the volume under discussion is purely algebraic. The first four chapters constitute, in fact, a clear and concise introduction to the theory of algebraic fields, polynomials and matrices (over a ground field which is not necessarily commutative). This account is in itself most valuable, since the modem point of view in algebra is not to be found in many English works, though several accounts have been published in the United States. Methods of Algebraic Geometry By Prof. W. V. D. Hodge Dr. D. Pedoe. Vol. 1. Book 1: Algebraic Preliminaries; Book 2: Projective Space. Pp. viii + 440. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1947.) 30s. net.