Graph Theory, 1736-1936

Recently, a friend was complaining to me that all the good books go out of print. That, unfortunately, is often the case. Fortunately, however, every so often something really special is reissued, and then it's a time to celebrate.

That's how I feel about Graph Theory 1736-1936, a sourcebook that collects important articles about the subject over the 200 year period mentioned in the title. In the Preface, the authors explain that Euler's famous 1736 article about the bridges of Königsberg provided their starting point, and they chose to end their book with material from 1936 because that was the date of publication of the first full-length book about the subject (by Dénes König).

In all, there are thirty-seven extracts from original sources, some of which were especially translated for this volume. There's a full bibliography, biographical notes on the authors, and even pictures of some of the mathematicians whose papers are included. If you're at all interested in the subject, this one is a must-have.

Fernando Q. Gouvêa is the editor of Focus and MAA Online.