Plane algebraic curves. Transl. from the German by John Stillwell (Q436187)

There are many textbooks in the mathematical literature that have become classics; to give an example, let me mention [An introduction to the theory of numbers. Edited and revised by D. R. Heath-Brown and J. H. Silverman. With a foreword by Andrew Wiles. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2008; Zbl 1159.11001)] by \textit{G. H. Hardy} and \textit{E. M. Wright}, or \textit{W. Fulton}'s [Algebraic curves. An introduction to algebraic geometry. Notes written with collab. of R. Weiss. new ed. Redwood City, CA etc.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company (1989; Zbl 0681.14011)]. There are perhaps even more books that are rarely adopted as textbooks for a course and still have become classics -- \textit{A. Weil}'s [Number theory. An approach through history from Hammurapi to Legendre. Reprint of the 1984 edition. Basel: Birkhäuser (2007; Zbl 1149.01013)], \textit{D. A. Cox}'s [Primes of the form \(x^2+ny^2\). Fermat, class field theory, and complex multiplication. Paperback ed. New York, NY: Wiley (1997; Zbl 0956.11500)], or \textit{M. Spivak}'s series [A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry. Vol. 1-5. 3rd ed. with corrections. Houston, TX: Publish or Perish (1999; Zbl 1213.53001)]. \textit{E. Brieskorn}'s and \textit{H. Knörrer}'s book [Ebene algebraische Kurven. Basel, Boston, Stuttgart: Birkhäuser (1981; Zbl 0508.14018); Plane algebraic curves. Transl. from the German by John Stillwell. Basel-Boston-Stuttgart: Birkhäuser Verlag (1986; Zbl 0588.14019)] also belongs to this list. The book is divided into three parts: Part~I is a historical introduction giving many examples of curves that have appeared in the work of mathematicians from Diocles to Newton, and a brief survey on the genesis of projective geometry. Part~II deals with elementary algebraic methods, and presents polynomial rings, decomposition into irreducible components, singular points, Bezout's theorem, and ends with remarks on elliptic curves and abelian varieties. The third part called ``Investigation of curves by resolution of singularities'' introduces the reader to an important topic in algebraic geometry using almost archaic tools: after a brief encounter with the modern arsenal of local rings and germs, the reader is treated to Newton polygons, Puiseux expansions, quadratic transformations, and the very classical formulas by Plücker, Clebsch and Noether. The book ends with (co)-homological methods connected with the names of de Rham and Hodge. I strongly recommend ``Plane algebraic curves'' as a powerful antidote to the Zeitgeist, which demands books explaining the material of a standardized and normalized bachelor course, to all students who are interested in mathematics and not primarily in getting a degree, and to everyone who wonders where the ``geometry'' in algebraic geometry came from.