Éléments de mathématique
book series by Bourbaki
Éléments de mathématique (English: Elements of Mathematics) is a series of mathematics books written by the pseudonymous French collective Nicolas Bourbaki. Begun in 1939, the series has been published in several volumes, and remains in progress. The series is noted as a large-scale, self-contained, formal treatment of mathematics.
The members of the Bourbaki group originally intended the work as a textbook on analysis, with the working title Traité d'analyse (Treatise on Analysis). While planning the structure of the work they became more ambitious, expanding its scope to cover several branches of modern mathematics. Once the plan of the work was expanded to treat other fields in depth, the title Éléments de mathématique was adopted. Topics treated in the series include set theory, abstract algebra, topology, analysis, Lie groups and Lie algebras.
The unusual singular "mathématique" (mathematic) of the title is deliberate, meant to convey the authors' belief in the unity of mathematics. A companion volume, Éléments d'histoire des mathématiques (Elements of the History of Mathematics), collects and reproduces several of the historical notes that previously appeared in the work.
History
In late 1934, a group of mathematicians including André Weil resolved to collectively write a textbook on mathematical analysis.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Éléments de mathématique” is book series by Bourbaki. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Éléments, mathématique and book, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “book series by Bourbaki” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3588113. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1939 and 1934.
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This entry incorporates text from “Éléments de mathématique” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.