The Real Analysis Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Understand Proofs

by Raffi Grinberg

Overview

The essential "lifesaver" that every student of real analysis needs

Real analysis is difficult. For most students, in addition to learning new material about real numbers, topology, and sequences, they are also learning to read and write rigorous proofs for the first time. The Real Analysis Lifesaver is an innovative guide that helps students through their first real analysis course while giving them the solid foundation they need for further study in proof-based math.

Rather than presenting polished proofs with no explanation of how they were devised, The Real Analysis Lifesaver takes a two-step approach, first showing students how to work backwards to solve the crux of the problem, then showing them how to write it up formally. It takes the time to provide plenty of examples as well as guided "fill in the blanks" exercises to solidify understanding.

Newcomers to real analysis can feel like they are drowning in new symbols, concepts, and an entirely new way of thinking about math. Inspired by the popular Calculus Lifesaver, this book is refreshingly straightforward and full of clear explanations, pictures, and humor. It is the lifesaver that every drowning student needs.

• The essential “lifesaver” companion for any course in real analysis
• Clear, humorous, and easy-to-read style
• Teaches students not just what the proofs are, but how to do them—in more than 40 worked-out examples
• Every new definition is accompanied by examples and important clarifications
• Features more than 20 “fill in the blanks” exercises to help internalize proof techniques
• Tried and tested in the classroom

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691172934
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/10/2017
Series:	Princeton Lifesaver Study Guides
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	686,529
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Raffi Grinberg is an entrepreneur and former management consultant. He graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in mathematics in 2012.

Table of Contents

Preliminaries 1

1 Introduction 3

2 Basic Math and Logic* 6

3 Set Theory* 14

Real Numbers 25

4 Least Upper Bounds* 27

5 The Real Field* 35

6 Complex Numbers and Euclidean Spaces 46

Topology 59

7 Bijections 61

8 Countability 68

9 Topological Definitions* 79

10 Closed and Open Sets* 90

11 Compact Sets* 98

12 The Heine-Borel Theorem* 108

13 Perfect and Connected Sets 117

Sequences 127

14 Convergence* 129

15 Limits and Subsequences* 138

16 Cauchy and Monotonic Sequences* 148

17 Subsequential Limits 157

18 Special Sequences 166

19 Series* 174

20 Conclusion 183

Acknowledgments 187

Bibliography 189

Index 191

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This book is a great resource that every real analysis student should have. Grinberg writes like a professor would speak to a student during office hours: free of jargon, with a sense of humor, yet still in an authoritative and informative manner."—Oscar E. Fernandez, author of Everyday Calculus: Discovering the Hidden Math All around Us

"Grinberg's accessible book gives beginning real analysis students the leg up they need."—Mark McConnell, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

"I can imagine this book proving useful to a motivated student who is finding the transition into analysis challenging through traditional textbooks."—-Dominic Yeo, Mathematical Gazette

From the Publisher

"This well-written book prepares readers to take a real analysis course by carefully defining and proving all concepts one needs for this type of course. . . . Throughout the book, the style is incredibly reader friendly, and the author's enthusiasm for the subject is very clear."

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