hihi, all - i have a question about commutative algebra, in particular, about extensions to the kinds of results that are used in algebraic geometry i'm working on a problem that uses subspaces of a euclidean space that are defined by constraint equations that are not all polynomials, and i was wondering, while reading hartshorne's book on algebraic geometry, how much of that theory can be proven when the rings are larger than polynomial rings i'm particularly interested in the resolution of singularities (and i'm perfectly willing to change the subspace as occurs in the process of ``blowing up'' a space at a point) i'm thinking of a (yet-to-be-characterized) ring of functions that includes the polynomials and also a few other basic functions (e.g., real polynomials with the exponential), and that is also closed under composition (as polynomial rings are, suitably interpreted) i'm interested in ideals, dimensions, regularity, nullstellensatz sorts of theorems, etc., and in particular, i'm looking for a book or some references that describe results along those lines (even if they say it never works) - even people names will help, since i can look up their publications and see if they might already know about this stuff any suggestions are welcome (and no, i don't exactly know what i'm really looking for 8-() more soon, cal Chris Landauer Aerospace Integration Science Center The Aerospace Corporation