The collected papers of Hassler Whitney. Volume I and II. Edited by James Eells and Domingo Toledo
``This collection contains all the published papers, with the exception of some short announcements that Whitney did not wish to be included. [The editors] also include the introduction to this book \textit{Geometric integration theory}, and one previously unpublished manuscript on the four-color problem.'' The papers are organized by subject matter into three chapters in the first volume and five in the second volume. Within each chapter the papers are arranged chronologically. Volume I: Chapter 1, Graphs and combinatorics (twelve items); Chapter 2, Differentiable functions and singularities (seventeen items); Chapter 3, Analytic spaces (four items). Volume II: Chapter 1, Manifolds (seven items); Chapter 2, Bundles and characteristic classes (four items); Chapter 3, Topology and algebraic topology (fifteen items); Chapter 4, Geometric integration theory (five items); Chapter 5, Other subjects (six items). ``Whitney intended to write an introduction to this collection. Unfortunately he left us no manuscript at the time of his death... [The editors] had discussed [with him] the possibility of using his paper `Moscow 1935 --- Topology moving toward America', written for the Centennial of the American Mathematical Society, as part of his introduction to this collection... [They] therefore include this paper, which contains personal information as well as mathematical reflections, as Whitney's own introduction to these volumes.'' Apparently, the original paper included a photograph of twenty-four of the Moscow conference participants; regrettably, it is not reproduced in the present collection [cf. \textit{P. L. Duren} et al. (ed.), A century of mathematics in America. Part 1 (Providence, RI 1988)]. Both volumes contain a complete set of contents, the preface, a listing of Whitney's academic appointments and awards, and Whitney's bibliography. With one exception (in French) all of the items are in English. (Quotations, above, are from the Preface.).
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 52673