Harold Davenport

"This book thoroughly examines the distribution of prime numbers in arithmetic progressions. It covers many classical results, including the Dirichlet theorem on the existence of prime numbers in arithmetic progressions, the theorem of Siegel, and functional equations of the L-functions and their consequences for the distribution of prime numbers. In addition, a simplified, improved version of the large sieve method is presented. The third edition includes a large number of revisions and corrections as well as a new section with references to more recent work in the field."--Jacket.

The theory of numbers is generally considered to be the 'purest' branch of pure mathematics and demands exactness of thought and exposition from its devotees. It is also one of the most highly active and engaging areas of mathematics. Now into its eighth edition The Higher Arithmetic introduces the concepts and theorems of number theory in a way that does not require the reader to have an in-depth knowledge of the theory of numbers but also touches upon matters of deep mathematical significance. Since earlier editions, additional material written by J. H. Davenport has been added, on topics such as Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, computers and number theory, and primality testing. Written to be accessible to the general reader, with only high school mathematics as prerequisite, this classic book is also ideal for undergraduate courses on number theory, and covers all the necessary material clearly and succinctly.