What is the title of this book intended to signify what connotations is the adjective Postmodern meant to carry? A potential reader will surely pose this question To answer it I should describe what distinguishes the
- proach to analysis presented here from what has by its protagonists been called Modern Analysis Modern Analysis as represented in the works of the Bourbaki group or in the textbooks by Jean Dieudonn' e is characterized by its systematic & axiomatic treatment & by its drive towards a high level of abstraction Given the tendency of many prior treatises on analysis to degenerate into a collection of rather unconnected tricks to solve special problems this de?nitely represented a healthy achievement In any case for the development of a consistent & powerful mathematical theory it seems to be necessary to concentrate solely on the internal problems & structures & to neglect the relations to other ?elds of scienti?c even of mathematical study for a certain while Almost complete isolation may be required to reach the level of intellectual elegance & perfection that only a good mathem- ical theory can acquire However once this level has been reached it can be useful to open one's eyes again to the inspiration coming from concrete external problems