De Souza Paulo Ney, Silva Jorge-Nuno. Berkeley Problems in Mathematics

Springer, 1998. — 443 p.In 1977, the Mathematics Department at the University of California, Berkeley, instituted a written examination as one of the first major requirements toward the Ph.D. degree in mathematics. Its purpose was to determine whether first-year students in the Ph.D. program had successfully mastered basic mathematics in order to continue in the program with the likelihood of success. Since its inception, the exam has become a major hurdle to overcome in the pursuit of the degree.