Editors’ Preface.
The volume called Higher Mathematics, the third edition of which was published
in 1900, contained eleven chapters by eleven authors, each chapter being independent
of the others, but all supposing the reader to have at least a mathematical training
equivalent to that given in classical and engineering colleges. The publication of that
volume was discontinued in 1906, and the chapters have since been issued in
separate Monographs, they being generally enlarged by additional articles or
appendices which either amplify the former presentation or record recent
advances. This plan of publication was arranged in order to meet the demand
of teachers and the convenience of classes, and it was also thought that
it would prove advantageous to readers in special lines of mathematical
literature.
It is the intention of the publishers and editors to add other monographs to the
series from time to time, if the demand seems to warrant it. Among the topics which
are under consideration are those of elliptic functions, the theory of quantics, the
group theory, the calculus of variations, and non-Euclidean geometry; possibly also
monographs on branches of astronomy, mechanics, and mathematical physics may be
included. It is the hope of the editors that this Series of Monographs may tend to
promote mathematical study and research over a wider field than that which the
former volume has occupied.