Algebraic Geometry

Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1963, Hartshorne became a Junior Fellow at Harvard, then taught there for several years. In 1972 he moved to California where he is now Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of "Residues and Duality" (1966), "Foundations of Projective Geometry (1968), "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties" (1970), and numerous research titles. His current research interest is the geometry of projective varieties and vector bundles. He has been a visiting professor at the College de France and at Kyoto University, where he gave lectures in French and in Japanese, respectively. Professor Hartshorne is married to Edie Churchill, educator and psychotherapist, and has two sons. He has travelled widely, speaks several foreign languages, and is an experienced mountain climber. He is also an accomplished amateur musician: he has played the flute for many years, and during his last visit to Kyoto he began studying the shakuhachi.

Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1963, Hartshorne became a Junior Fellow at Harvard, then taught there for several years. In 1972 he moved to California where he is now Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of "Residues and Duality" (1966), "Foundations of Projective Geometry (1968), "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties" (1970), and numerous research titles. His current research interest is the geometry of projective varieties and vector bundles. He has been a visiting professor at the College de France and at Kyoto University, where he gave lectures in French and in Japanese, respectively. Professor Hartshorne is married to Edie Churchill, educator and psychotherapist, and has two sons. He has travelled widely, speaks several foreign languages, and is an experienced mountain climber. He is also an accomplished amateur musician: he has played the flute for many years, and during his last visit to Kyoto he began studying the shakuhachi.

Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1963, Hartshorne became a Junior Fellow at Harvard, then taught there for several years. In 1972 he moved to California where he is now Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of "Residues and Duality" (1966), "Foundations of Projective Geometry (1968), "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties" (1970), and numerous research titles. His current research interest is the geometry of projective varieties and vector bundles. He has been a visiting professor at the College de France and at Kyoto University, where he gave lectures in French and in Japanese, respectively. Professor Hartshorne is married to Edie Churchill, educator and psychotherapist, and has two sons. He has travelled widely, speaks several foreign languages, and is an experienced mountain climber. He is also an accomplished amateur musician: he has played the flute for many years, and during his last visit to Kyoto he began studying the shakuhachi.

Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1963, Hartshorne became a Junior Fellow at Harvard, then taught there for several years. In 1972 he moved to California where he is now Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of "Residues and Duality" (1966), "Foundations of Projective Geometry (1968), "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties" (1970), and numerous research titles. His current research interest is the geometry of projective varieties and vector bundles. He has been a visiting professor at the College de France and at Kyoto University, where he gave lectures in French and in Japanese, respectively. Professor Hartshorne is married to Edie Churchill, educator and psychotherapist, and has two sons. He has travelled widely, speaks several foreign languages, and is an experienced mountain climber. He is also an accomplished amateur musician: he has played the flute for many years, and during his last visit to Kyoto he began studying the shakuhachi.

This book is based on one-semester courses given at Harvard in 1984, at Brown in 1985, and at Harvard in 1988. It is intended to be, as the title suggests, a first introduction to the subject. Even so, a few words are in order about the purposes of the book. Algebraic geometry has developed tremendously over the last century. During the 19th century, the subject was practiced on a relatively concrete, down-to-earth level; the main objects of study were projective varieties, and the techniques for the most part were grounded in geometric constructions. This approach flourished during the middle of the century and reached its culmination in the work of the Italian school around the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Ultimately, the subject was pushed beyond the limits of its foundations: by the end of its period the Italian school had progressed to the point where the language and techniques of the subject could no longer serve to express or carry out the ideas of its best practitioners.

This book is based on one-semester courses given at Harvard in 1984, at Brown in 1985, and at Harvard in 1988. It is intended to be, as the title suggests, a first introduction to the subject. Even so, a few words are in order about the purposes of the book. Algebraic geometry has developed tremendously over the last century. During the 19th century, the subject was practiced on a relatively concrete, down-to-earth level; the main objects of study were projective varieties, and the techniques for the most part were grounded in geometric constructions. This approach flourished during the middle of the century and reached its culmination in the work of the Italian school around the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Ultimately, the subject was pushed beyond the limits of its foundations: by the end of its period the Italian school had progressed to the point where the language and techniques of the subject could no longer serve to express or carry out the ideas of its best practitioners.