Background

The group is mainly French and its members have changed over the years but the names are kept secret. However, it is assumed that early contributors included Henri Cartan, Claude Chevalley, Jean Dieudonné,Dieudonne, and AndréAndre Weil (all French), and Samuel Eilenberg (American). The Bourbaki definitions and theorems are stated so as to be as broad as possible, and the texts often use a special notation. The result has been an original and fruitful survey of modern mathematics in all its aspects. The first volume of the series, collectively known as ÉlémentsElements des mathématiques,mathematiques, came out in 1939. By 1990 more than 66 chapters had appeared under 10 general headings. Each chapter ends with exercises and historical notes. The historical notes were collected and published separately in 1960 as ÉlémentsElements d'histoire des mathématiques.mathematiques. The Bourbaki method has been highly successful and the undertaking has had a far-reaching influence on the development of modern mathematics.