
Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.
Description for Geometries
Paperback. Series: Student Mathematical Library. Num Pages: 301 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: PBM. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 218 x 140 x 16. Weight in Grams: 380.
The book is an innovative modern exposition of geometry, or rather, of geometries; it is the first textbook in which Felix Klein's Erlangen Program (the action of transformation groups) is systematically used as the basis for defining various geometries. The course of study presented is dedicated to the proposition that all geometries are created equal--although some, of course, remain more equal than others. The author concentrates on several of the more distinguished and beautiful ones, which include what he terms ``toy geometries'', the geometries of Platonic bodies, discrete geometries, and classical continuous geometries. The text is based on first-year semester course lectures delivered at the Independent University of Moscow in 2003 and 2006. It is by no means a formal algebraic or analytic treatment of geometric topics, but rather, a highly visual exposition containing upwards of 200 illustrations. The reader is expected to possess a familiarity with elementary Euclidean geometry, albeit those lacking this knowledge may refer to a compendium in Chapter 0. Per the author's predilection, the book contains very little regarding the axiomatic approach to geometry (save for a single chapter on the history of non-Euclidean geometry), but two Appendices provide a detailed treatment of Euclid's and Hilbert's axiomatics. Perhaps the most important aspect of this course is the problems, which appear at the end of each chapter and are supplemented with answers at the conclusion of the text. By analyzing and solving these problems, the reader will become capable of thinking and working geometrically, much more so than by simply learning the theory. Ultimately, the author makes the distinction between concrete mathematical objects called ``geometries'' and the singular ``geometry'', which he understands as a way of thinking about mathematics. Although the book does not address branches of mathematics and mathematical physics such as Riemannian and Kahler manifolds or, say, differentiable manifolds and conformal field theories, the ideology of category language and transformation groups on which the book is based prepares the reader for the study of, and eventually, research in these important and rapidly developing areas of contemporary mathematics.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2012
Publisher
American Mathematical Society United States
Number of pages
301
Condition
New
Series
Student Mathematical Library
Number of Pages
301
Place of Publication
Providence, United States
ISBN
9780821875711
SKU
V9780821875711
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About A. B. Sossinsky
A. B. Sossinsky, Independent University of Moscow, Moscow, Russia
Reviews for Geometries
[A] very ambitious and pleasantly succinct text . . . Highly recommended." - CHOICE