One of the most prominent mathematicians of the twentieth century, Abraham Robinson discovered and developed nonstandard analysis, a rigorous theory of infinitesimals that he used to unite mathematical logic with the larger body of historic and modern mathematics. In this first biography of Robinson, Joseph Dauben combines an explanation of Robinson's revolutionary achievements in pure and applied mathematics with a description of his odyssey from Hitler's Germany to the United States via conflict-ridden Palestine and wartime Europe. "This masterpiece of scientific biography presents the eventful life and the pioneering work of a remarkable figure of twentieth-century pure and applied mathematics as well as symbolic logic. [A] well-written and most carefully researched text [that is] enlightening and delightful to read. Dauben alternates two narratives, biography and the progression of science, not omitting daily and academic life, and their background in general and cultural history, of the stations of Robinson's odyssey.... The book is bound to become an indispensable source for future historical work." --Detlef Laugwitz, Mathematical Reviews "Robinson, who expressed a certain Opreference for "glamour,"' led a life that is interesting for its own sake. Dauben's account of it is engrossingly intimate." --Albert C. Lewis, Isis
