Fatou, Julia, Montel, (PDF)

Michèle Audin is professor at Strasbourg (Université Louis Pasteur). She uses to lecture on geometry all university levels, but also happens to teach various topics, such as complex analysis, Galois theory or algebraic topology.



As a researcher, she is a specialist of symplectic geometry, a subject on which she has published research articles and a few books, especially on spinning tops and integrable systems.

From the reviews:

"Audin’s book is indeed filled with marvelous biographical information and analysis, dealing not just with the men mentioned in the book’s title but a large number of other players, too … . the book under review addresses itself to scholars for whom the history of mathematics has a particular resonance and especially to mathematicians active, or even with merely an interest in, complex dynamics. … presents it all to the reader in a very appealing form." (Michael Berg, The Mathematical Association of America, October, 2009)

“Audin’s book, written by a mathematician … is a valuable contribution to the historiography of mathematics in France, including the time of Nazi occupation.” (Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1179, 2010)

“Audin draws the portraits, the environment … and does it with her own views, her feelings, and her passion for mathematics and for the truth. … Even specialists in the field will find something new in the book, and nonspecialists will have an excellent introduction to modern complex dynamics. … For many readers, as for myself, the fact that the author is present on every page with a remark, a comment, and sometimes a mockery, will make it more pleasant and easy to read.” (Jean-Pierre Kahane, The Mathematical Intelligences, Vol. 33 (3), September, 2011)

“This book is a history of important mathematical developments during a turbulent time. … provides a blow-by-blow description of developments in the mathematical world between 1915 and 1918, as the war took its course, and follows it up with a discussion of progress in holomorphic dynamics (as well as continued mathematical disputes) until 1965. … is carefully documented, and provides many details about the lives and personalities of the protagonists. I recommend it highly.” (John Willard Milnor, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2011 e)