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"Connections Through a Matrix": Review of Proofs and Confirmations: The Story of the Alternating Sign Matrix Conjecture, by David M. Bressoud. Reviewed by Herbert S. Wilf. Science, 7 April 2000, page 61.
"Proofs and Confirmations is one of the most brilliant examples of mathematical exposition that I have encountered," writes the reviewer. This book tells the story of the Alternating Sign Matrix conjecture, a famous open problem in an area of mathematics known as combinatorics. The first proof of the conjecture drew on the talents of scores of referees worldwide, each of whom had responsibility for one part of the proof. When a simpler proof was found in 1996, it drew on ideas from statistical mechanics. The reviewer notes that the book "is not for the faint-hearted", nor is it one that "can be read in an easy chair, like a novel." But for those willing to take on the challenge, the book offers "a panorama of combinatorics today".
--- Allyn Jackson
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