Description

This book is a tribute to Paul Erd\H{o}s, the wandering mathematician once described as the "prince of problem solvers and the absolute monarch of problem posers." It examines -- within the context of his unique personality and lifestyle -- the legacy of open problems he left to the world after his death in 1996. Unwilling to succumb to the temptations of money and position, Erd\H{o}s never had a home and never held a job. His "home" was a bag or two containing all his belongings and a record of the collective activities of the mathematical community. His "job" was one at which he excelled: identifying a fundamental roadblock in some particular line of approach and capturing it in a well-chosen, often innocent-looking problem, whose solution would likewise provide insight into the underlying theory. By cataloguing the unsolved problems of Erd\H{o}s in a comprehensive and well-documented volume, the authors hope to continue the work of an unusual and special man who fundamentally influenced the field of mathematics.