Customer Reviews
classique parmi les classiques: an enthralling book - By: Gilles Benson, 07 Mar 2008 
it is surprising to find that so few people have anything to say about this book; Hardy was a giant among mathematicians & at last this book is translatedin french...but only two reviews...I must add that although it is an old book, the younger author saw that it was updated through 5 editionsin the 20th century; this book cannot truly become obsolete because it is about number theory from an elementary viewpoint; so no complex analysis, no modular forms & no proof of Fermat's last theorem but a wealth of results that could keep you busy quite for a while. De plus certaines preuves n'ont vraiment pas vieilli et restent valables au niveau de l'enseignement secondaire; ainsi la plupart des démonstrations concernant les fonctions arithmétiques peuvent se retrouver dans des ouvrages plus récents comme le livre de Natanson: Elementary methodsin number theory qui tout de même prouve le theorème tauberien de Littlewood via la méthode de Karamata. Let say it again: a wonderful book.
Essential Classic - By: S. Powell, 06 Apr 2005 
For the amateur (or student) enthusiast of Number Theory, this is clearly (and resoundingly) the essential reference book. It is dated (very dated), but still contains a good & thorough groundingin the subject with unmatched prose from the masters.
That said, this book doesn't treat the theoryin the way that a modern student or professional needs to treat it, & of course, it is very old now. So, if you want up-to-date coverage you have to have other books, too.
For personal use, I tend to lookin here for (traditional) definitions & some approaches to older theorems, but never to explore the proofsin detail. For those, I use more modern texts.
If you want to learn mathematics, study the masters, not ... - By: rhtiwari@hotmail.com, 03 May 2002 the pupils - N.H. Abel
If you want to follow the advice of N.H. Abel, then you should definitely read this book, written by two of the greatest number theorists of their generation. Even though this book was first publishedin 1938, it has still retained
its charm & importance. Witness the innumerable citations for this book.
The reason for that is the selection of topics & their masterly presentation. But coming from such luminaries, what else could you expect.
And yes, this is the book, your professors turn to.
