# What out-of-print books would you like to see re-printed?

It's excellent news that the LMS are to re-publish Cassels & Fröhlich. There are many other excellent mathematics books which are just about impossible (or at least very expensive) to get hold of, though this problem seems to be getting a bit better with some texts being printed on demand.

Which book(s) would you most like to see re-published?

Perhaps nobody under 30 actually reads real books made from trees any more, but personally I find it more convenient to refer to a paper copy, to the extent that I will happily buy a copy of something which is available free on-line (like SGA 1 and 2, or Milne's Arithmetic Duality Theorems).

And of course there can be legal issues with re-publishing works - EGA & SGA seem to be a case in point at the moment.

Here are two to start off with:

• Manin, Cubic forms
• Grothendieck et al., Dix exposés sur la cohomologie des schémas

(not including Cassels & Fröhlich because I picked up a copy on Amazon a couple of years ago :-) )

• Is this a questionaire by booksellers. Mar 15 '10 at 14:50
• If there are any reading, maybe they will take note... Mar 15 '10 at 14:59
• Reprints in Theory and Applications of Categories (tac.mta.ca/tac/reprints) makes it its business to reprint out-of-print books in category theory. At least five books, plus a bunch of classic but hard-to-get-hold-of papers, have appeared so far. If you have suggestions, contact me or another editor. Mar 15 '10 at 15:26
• I was going to say Grunbaum & Shephard, Tilings and Patterns, but it turns out it's being re-issued---in paperback, no less---later this year. I love dover books. Mar 15 '10 at 20:10
• Uh,I beg to differ,Jonas. Young students are starting to burn out thier eyes and get migraines reading too much from a quartz screen.So they're starting to not only go back to paper books,but requesting titles from wise old self-studiers like me. Sometimes low-tech is good. Mar 18 '10 at 18:39

The following link may be relevant:

http://outofprintmath.blogspot.com/ - a blog devoted to trying to see which math books are in most dire need of reprinting.

Also

Methods of representation theory (Vol 1+2) by Curtis and Reiner. It's a shame that this is out of print!

• It's really a shame! And obviously there is a high demand for them. Look at amazon or ebay. The books are sold for more than 300$. Really insane. – Tile Apr 4 '10 at 16:45 • outofprintmath.blogspot.com/2005/03/… May 11 '10 at 7:33 After a quick pop over to my Amazon wish list, the following 4 have been pretty unattainable to me for as long as I've been looking: Galois Cohomology of Algebraic Number Fields, by Haberland Class Field Theory, by Neukirch Arithmetic Geometry, by Cornell et al. Number Theory, by Borevich and Shafarevich (So if anyone has one they want to get rid of...) • Neukirch and Borevich-Shafarevich are available through www.eurobuch.com, (as is Cornell et al, although some copies have fantasy prices). Mar 15 '10 at 15:55 • As far as I can tell, the whole content of Neukirch's "Class Field Theory" is embedded in his big book "Algebraic Number Theory". Mar 15 '10 at 17:53 • @Robin: Exactly! Just Neukirch's older German book on class field theory (Klassenkörpertheorie) is different (there the cohomological approach is taken). Mar 15 '10 at 18:35 • About a month and a half ago I noticed Amazon had Arithmetic Geometry available again...well, to ship in 1 to 2 months. It also claimed to be a revised second printing with a new index. I ordered it and got it after about 1 week and a half. It doesn't have an index, but it is Arithmetic Geometry...although some of the pages are printed strangely, i.e., the bottom margin is way too small. Still well worth$56 though. Feb 19 '12 at 15:22
• Hi, the old Neukirch, Class Field Theory was republished by Alexander Schmidt: mathi.uni-heidelberg.de/~schmidt/Neukirch/index.html (German only, but an English version will appear soon)
– user19475
Feb 19 '12 at 18:56

Not likely to be a popular choice on MO, but I wish I could get a copy of Banach-Mazur Distances and Finite-Dimensional Operator Ideals by Tomczak-Jaegermann.

(1) "Algebraic groups and number theory" by Platonov and Rapinchuk

(2) "Spherical functions on a group of p-adic type" by Macdonald

(3) "Topological transformation groups" by Montgomery and Zippin

• I second and third the last one on the list,it's a disgrace it's out of print. Mar 25 '10 at 5:53

I'm REAL excited about this question,but I don't have the time right now to think about it enough to post a list. I was actually going to compile one for Dover this summer-a long one. But I'll think about it and try and post a few at this thread.Here's a few to get started:

Elements of Homotopy Theory by George Whitehead:A classic by the master and it would be a fantastic resource for classical homotopy theory from a geometrical standpoint that can serve as a foundation for the modern,high tech treatment via model categories.Why it's out of print baffles me.

Analysis And Solution of Partial Differential Equations by Robert L.Street:There are so few good undergraduate textbooks on this subject and a nice inexpensive reissue of this book would go a long way towards assisting this situation.Wonderful discussion and lots of nice examples.

Notes on Differential Geometry by Noel J.Hicks: An absolute classic and it needs to be brought back for a new generation of graduate students-after being proofread carefully,of course.Graduate students learning differential geometry will wonder why people have been hiding it from them.

The Foundations of Geometry by K.Borsuk and Smilew:A lost classic on axiomatic treatment of the classical plane geometries from a modern standpoint.Another book that baffles me why it's out of print.

There-that'll get you guys started. I actually hope to post the full list at my blog this summer. I'll let you guys know when it's up for the world to see.

• +1 for Hicks: "students learning differential geometry will wonder why people have been hiding it from them"
– agt
Feb 20 '12 at 14:32
• @AGTortorella I personally don't see why Hick's notes cannot be replaced by do Carmo's differential geometry of curves and surfaces, which is obviously more up to date and accessible(I have read both. Jul 9 '17 at 10:40

Hans Rademacher "Topics in analytic number Theory"

Lester Ford "Differential Equations"

F. Hirzebruch "Topological Methods in Algebraic Geometry"

M. Greenberg "Lectures on Algebraic Topology"

M. Atiyah, I. MacDonald "Introduction to Commutative Algebra"

• All great choices,Charlie.It's rather shocking the last one is out of print! You sure it is? Mar 25 '10 at 5:52
• Indeed, you can get it in paperback. Mar 25 '10 at 10:26
• also there are other editions to greenberg, done with harper. i have heard a comparison of the newer editions but i don't have an opinion as to why the earlier edition is better. Mar 26 '10 at 5:45
• The original version by Greenberg is much closer to "Vorlesungen ueber Algebraische Topologie" by Emil Artin, which is far superior to either, but suffers as a textbook for American students from the fact that it is in German. Apr 4 '10 at 18:35
• I actually think the Artin book was translated into English for it's second edition,Charlie-although I could be wrong.I DO know Artin did coauthor a book based on his German topology lectures that's in English. Apr 10 '10 at 17:15
1. Topology by James Dugundji
2. General Topology by Ryszard Engelking
3. Topology - Volumes I and II by Kazimierz Kuratowski
• Good choices.The second IS in print in Europe,but it has become ridiculously expensive. May 22 '10 at 3:03
• Both Dixmier books recently appear to have been made available in print, with cheap prices on Amazon. I'm a little confused and wary, though, because I see no evidence of this printing on the publisher's website. Feb 13 '12 at 20:21

"Essays In Group Theory" edited by S.M. Gersten, which in particular contains Gromov's paper "Hyperbolic Groups".

"Topologie Algébrique et Théorie des Faisceaux," by Roger Godement. The classic reference on sheaf theory. The edition I'm reading right now (checked out from the library) is beginning to fall apart, and it's really making my eyes water.

• Someone who knows how to do this should put acute accents over the first e in algebrique and the first e in theorie. Sep 16 '10 at 22:40
• « Topologie algébrique et théorie des faisceaux » isn't out-of-print. (I thought it was reprinted with a different cover very recently but I can't find evidence of that online...) I regularly see it in the shelves of bookstores (well, obviously, the probability is greater in Paris or Lyon than in Chicago) and you can order it at amazon.fr. Sep 16 '10 at 23:48
• Well, strike that. You can indeed order it at amazon.fr, but it is actually another seller than amazon and they won't ship to the US. If no other website accepts to ship to the US and the editor (Hermann) doesn't do that either, I guess you'll have either to find an international bookstore that can order it directly from Hermann or to use an accomplice visiting Europe. Sep 17 '10 at 0:03
• Well, I was not hallucinating: Godement's book has been reprinted in 2006 according to eyrolles.com/Sciences/Livre/… Eyrolles.com even seems to accept to ship to the US (through Fedex) and your dream is therefore only 50 euros away... Sep 17 '10 at 0:10

The situation with Séminaire de géométrie algébrique du Bois-Marie (SGA) remains incredibly frustrating:

• 12 out of 13 volumes (all except SGA 4½) had been unavailable for a long time,
• until Société Mathématique de France issued new editions of SGA 1 and 2 in the early 00s and SGA 3 (parts I and III only ― part II appears missing) in 2011,
• but now SGA 1 and SGA 2 are already taken out of print again!

These books are still the backbone for serious theoretical work in algebraic geometry. I cite them in most papers I write.

By contrast, as I learned from this post, all 8 volumes of Éléments de géométrie algébrique (EGA) can be purchased directly from the IHES library for a very modest price!

Mathematics Made Difficult, by Carl Linderholm. A great underground classic.

• Dedicated "to Clement Durrell, without whom this book would not have been necessary." Dec 17 '18 at 23:58

I would very much like to see Cornell and Silverman's Arithmetic Geometry republished. May I ask for a reference regarding the republication of Cassels and Fröhlich? I hadn't heard about this, and it's also at the top of my list for out-of-print books that should be republished.

• You might be interested in this MO question about Cassels and Frohlich: mathoverflow.net/questions/11437/erratum-for-cassels-froehlich Mar 15 '10 at 19:48
• I asked someone at Springer HD who told me she is surprised that this is not available anymore. She will pass the wish on to the guys in NY and is confident that it will be made available again as long as the authors don't mind. Mar 16 '10 at 14:18
• That would be fantastic. Mar 17 '10 at 15:33

"Homotopic topology" by Fomenko and Fuks, the English version. I already mentioned it here.

• After following the link, I saw that you mentioned you had seen the Russian version. Do you have any idea where I could find a copy of the Russian text? Feb 8 '14 at 18:24
• @chs21259 Try following the links from: google.com/… I assume you know this, but the word for "download" is "скачать" :). Feb 12 '14 at 21:13
• I'm actually still learning Russian but I've made it a long term goal to read through this. I really appreciate the help! Feb 20 '14 at 23:44
• This book is actually being reprinted and will be available starting next January, according to Amazon! Aug 9 '15 at 20:07
• This exists again! Jul 18 '20 at 5:28

Adeles and Algebraic Groups by A.Weil

• In the U.S. market, Amazon lists the hardcover Birkhauser edition at $29.50 (with free shipping). Apparently Springer/Birkhauser haven't kept it in print. Decades ago I wrote a short review of the book for a specialized journal which I was confident Weil wouldn't read. Mar 29 '10 at 21:04 • True, I've only checked the paperback. Still, I would like to see it reprinted with better fonts. I am curious about the review. Now I will go and read it. – MBN Mar 29 '10 at 21:43 I don't know much about the book, since it is out of print and i am young, but Stong's Notes on Cobordism Theory. Associative Algebras, by Richard S. Pierce. Check out the ridiculous Amazon page for this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0387906932/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1273632391&sr=8-1&condition=new 'Etale Cohomology' by Gunter Tamme (translated by Manfred Kolster). Kobayashi, "Differential geometry of complex vector bundles" I've heard and read good things about "Mathematics, Form and Function" by Saunders Mac Lane which is sadly out of print. Second hand copies are scarce and prohibitively expensive. • That's becoming a real headache for those of us who apprieciate the classics,Colin. May 7 '10 at 16:37 • outofprintmath.blogspot.com/2008/07/… May 11 '10 at 7:36 The whole Academic Press series on pure and applied mathematics contains a number of gems, including Mordell's work on Diophantine equations and Fuchs' work on infinite abelian groups. Unfortunately, it is out of print and used editions are usually horribly expensive. "The Geometry of Moduli Spaces of Sheaves" by Huybrechts and Lehn. Thankfully, it seems that an updated edition is in the works. • Let's hope that they keep the hilarious typo on the spine (!): "The Geometry of Moduli Spaces of Shaves". Serves also as a warning against trusting spellcheck. Mar 15 '10 at 19:14 "The Floer Memorial Volume." For anyone interested in instanton Floer homology, this book contains key articles by Floer, Donaldson, Braams, and others which aren't available anywhere else, the internet included (and which are still the sole references for certain proofs and ideas). My research has been held up for days, just due to this book being checked out. Murre's "Lectures on an introduction to Grothendieck's theory of the fundamental group". Manifolds of differential mapping: P.W. Michor. should be printed with latex and graphics... H.R. Margolis, Spectra and the Steenrod Algebra. This book was a big influence on my advisor, and I've been lucky enough to borrow and read his copy. It's basically impossible to find nowadays but is still an amazing treatment of this subject. 1. Furstenberg's Recurrence in Ergodic Theory and Combinatorial Number Theory 2. Dubins and Savage's How to Gamble If You Must: Inequalities for Stochastic Processes The Complex Analytic Theory of Teichmüller Spaces, by Subhashis Nag. ISBN:0471627739. It is for more than$500 on Amazon!!

Perhaps we should be asking why excellent books are out of print. By what mechanisms can they be brought back to life? Can we learn from any successful campaigns?

For me: Lectures on the theory of functions of a complex variable Vols I & II published in the 1960's by Noordhoff. A beautiful book authored by Sansone & Gerretsen.