Contents: Heights - Nomalized heights - The Mordell-Weil theorem - Mordell's conjecture - Local calculation of normalized heights - Siegel's method - Baker's method - Hilbert's irreducibility theorem - Construction of Galois extensions - Construction of elliptic curves of large rank - The large sieve - Applications of the large sieve to thin sets.

The book is based on a course given by J.-P. Serre at the Collège de France in 1980 and 1981. Basic techniques in Diophantine geometry are covered, such as heights, the Mordell-Weil theorem, Siegel's and Baker's theorems, Hilbert's irreducibility theorem, and the large sieve. Included are applications to, for example, Mordell's conjecture, the construction of Galois extensions, and the classical class number 1 problem. Comprehensive bibliographical references.

Professor Jean-Pierre Serre ist ein renommierter französischer Mathematiker am Collège de France, Paris.