The book presents the winners of the first five Abel Prizes in mathematics: 2003 Jean-Pierre Serre; 2004 Sir Michael Atiyah and Isadore Singer; 2005 Peter D. Lax; 2006 Lennart Carleson; and 2007 S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan. Each laureate provides an autobiography or an interview, a curriculum vitae, and a complete bibliography. This is complemented by a scholarly description of their work written by leading experts in the field and by a brief history of the Abel Prize. Interviews with the laureates can be found at http://extras.springer.com .