Oscar Zariski's work in mathematics permanently altered the foundations of algebraic geometry. The powerful tools he forged from the ideas of modern algebra allowed him to penetrate classical problems with an unaccustomed depth, and brought new rigor to the intuitive proofs of the Italian School. The students he trained at John Hopkins, and later at Harvard, are among the foremost mathematicians of our time.

"Oscar Zariski's work in mathematics permanently altered the foundations of algebraic geometry. The powerful tools he forged from the ideas of modern algebra allowed him to penetrate classical problems with an unaccustomed depth, and brought new rigor to the intuitive proofs of the Italian School. The students he trained at Hopkins, and later at Harvard, are among the foremost mathematicians of our time.While what he called his "real life" is recorded in almost a hundred books and papers, this story of his "unreal life" is based upon Parikh's interviews with his family, colleagues, and students, and on his own memories from a series of tape-recorded interviews made a few years before his death in 1986.First published in 1991, The Unreal Life of Oscar Zariski was highly successful and widely praised, but has been out of print for many years. Springer is proud to make this book available again, introducing Oscar Zariski to a new generation of mathematicians."

That Darling Old Lady Kobrin and Chernigov 1899- 1918.- Birds Whirling like Numbers Kiev 1918-1920.- Three Great Mathematicians Rome 1921-1926.- Reading Pushkin and Dante.- "Oscar, You Are Not One of Us.".- Walking with Lefschetz Baltimore 1927-1928.- A Voyage of Discovery 1928-1932.- "The Algebra Which Sheds Light on Geometry" 1932-1935.- A Citizen of the World of Mathematics 1935-1937.- The Resolution of Some Singularities.- A Land of Intellectual Cannibals 1939-1944.- "A Superb Audience of One ... André Weil" São Paulo 1945.- Normal Points of a Variety Cambridge 1947.- The Pure Pleasure of It.- An Attack on the Theory of Linear Systems 1950-1956.- Tying Bells on Characteristic Zero 1957-1961.- A Feeling of Awe 1962-1974.- The Depth of His Attachment.