by Gian-Carlo Rota The subjects of mathematics, like the subjects of mankind, have finite lifespans, which the historian will record as he freezes history at on

The study of matroids is a branch of discrete mathematics with basic links to graphs, lattices, codes, transversals, and projective geometries. Matroids are of

I. The topics of this book The concept of a matroid has been known for more than five decades. Whitney (1935) introduced it as a common generalization of graphs

The present volume of reprints are what I consider to be my most interesting and influential papers on algebra and topology. To tie them together, and to place