The Discrete Mathematical Charms of Paul Erdős: A Simple Introduction

In The Discrete Mathematical Charms of Paul Erdős: A Simple Introduction, Vašek Chvátal tells the story of many discrete mathematical ideas, centered around the work of Paul Erd ős.The book covers a wide range of topics in which Erd ős left an indelible impression, including Ramsey theory, graph coloring, extremal graph and set theory, and discrete geometry.The foundation of this book is Chvátal's lecture notes from a graduate-level discrete mathematics class he taught at Concordia University in the late 2000s, just over a decade after Erd ős' death.Chvátal does an exceptional job of putting the mathematical discoveries in their historical context and combining them with photos, personal anecdotes about his time spent with Erd ős, and letters between the two.This context, along with the topics chosen and the clear writing, make this book exceptional.