Mathematical Essays in honor of Gian-Carlo Rota

In April of 1996 an array of mathematicians converged on Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the Rotafest and Umbral Calculus Workshop, two con­ ferences celebrating Gian-Carlo Rota's 64th birthday. It seemed appropriate when feting one of the world's great combinatorialists to have the anniversary be a power of 2 rather than the more mundane 65. The over seventy-five par­ ticipants included Rota's doctoral students, coauthors, and other colleagues from more than a dozen countries. As a further testam