It is my hope that students of this book may come to respect the historical continuity of the subject. Analytic function theory is the result of a long
development involving the contributions of many workers. Many theorems have names attached to them, names of men who were famous in their days. The student should know something about the historical development of the subject and about the men who took a major part in this development. He should understand mathematics as a living organism, a growing body of learning, fed by the efforts of many workers. If possible, he should acquire sense of veneration for those who built up the structure that he is studying. This is the reason for the many historical footnotes.