Canonically cited as Dunford and Schwartz,[1] the textbook has been referred to as "the definitive work" on linear operators.
[2]: 2 The work began as a written set of solutions to the problems for Dunford's graduate course in linear operators at Yale.
[3]: 32 The work enjoyed funding from the Office of Naval Research and a popular joke at the time was that every nuclear submarine had a copy.
[2]: 2 In the citation for this prize, the committee observed "This monumental work of 2,592 pages must be the most comprehensive of its kind in mathematics ... A whole generation of analysts has been trained from it.
"[4]: 6 Béla Sz.-Nagy wrote in a review of the first volume: "the authors have created an extraordinarily important and valuable work that is distinguished in particular by its monumental completeness, clear organization, and attractive exposition".