In 1961 the second author deliv1lred a series of lectures at Haverford Col lege on the subject of "Rational Points on Cubic Curves. " These lectures, intended for junior and senior mathematics majors, were recorded, tran scribed, and printed in mimeograph form. Since that time they have been widely distributed as photocopies of ever decreasing legibility, and por tions have appeared in various textbooks (Husemoller [1], Chahal [1]), but they have never appeared in their entirety. In view of the recent inter est in the theory of elliptic curves for subjects ranging from cryptogra phy (Lenstra [1], Koblitz [2]) to physics (Luck-Moussa-Waldschmidt [1]), as well as the tremendous purely mathematical activity in this area, it seems a propitious time to publish an expanded version of those original notes suitable for presentation to an advanced undergraduate audience. We have attempted to maintain much of the informality of the orig inal Haverford lectures. Our main goal in doing this has been to write a textbook in a technically difficult field which is "readable" by the average undergraduate mathematics major. We hope we have succeeded in this goal. The most obvious drawback to such an approach is that we have not been entirely rigorous in all of our proofs. In particular, much of the foundational material on elliptic curves presented in Chapter I is meant to explain and convince, rather than to rigorously prove.
ReviewsFrom the reviews:
"The authors' goal has been to write a textbook in a technically difficult field which is accessible to the average undergraduate mathematics major, and it seems that they have succeeded admirably..."--MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS
"This is a very leisurely introduction to the theory of elliptic curves, concentrating on an algebraic and number-theoretic viewpoint. It is pitched at an undergraduate level and simplifies the work by proving the main theorems with additional hypotheses or by only proving special cases. ... The examples really pull together the material and make it clear. ... a great book for a first introduction to the subject of elliptic curves. ... very clearly written and you will understand a lot when you are done." (Allen Stenger, The Mathematical Association of America, August, 2008)
Book InformationISBN 9780387978253
Author Joseph H. SilvermanFormat Hardback
Page Count 281
Imprint Springer-Verlag New York Inc.Publisher Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
