Topology Now! (Mathematical Association of America Textbooks) - Hardcover

Messer, Robert; Straffin, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0883857448 ISBN 13: 9780883857441

Publisher: The Mathematical Association of America, 2006

Synopsis

Topology is a branch of mathematics packed with intriguing concepts, fascinating geometrical objects, and ingenious methods for studying them. The authors have written this textbook to make the material accessible to undergraduate students without requiring extensive prerequisites in upper-level mathematics. The approach is to cultivate the intuitive ideas of continuity, convergence, and connectedness so students can quickly delve into knot theory, the topology of surfaces and three-dimensional manifolds, fixed points and elementary homotopy theory. The fundamental concepts of point-set topology appear at the end of the book when students can see how this level of abstraction provides a sound logical basis for the geometrical ideas that have come before. This organization exposes students to the exciting world of topology now(!) rather than later. Students using this textbook should have some exposure to the geometry of objects in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces together with an appreciation of precise mathematical definitions and proofs.

About this title

Review:

A marvelous introduction to geometric topology for students with mathematical talent, but not much mathematical experience."" - W. B. Raymond Likorish, University of Cambridge

Book Description:

Topology is a branch of mathematics packed with intriguing concepts, fascinating geometrical objects, and ingenious methods for studying them. The authors approach in this textbook is to cultivate the intuitive ideas of continuity, convergence, and connectedness so students can discover the exciting geometrical ideas of topology now(!) rather than later.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Mathematical Association of America
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0883857448
• ISBN 13: 9780883857441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 250