Geometry: plane and fancy
convexitycurvature of polyhedraelliptic geometryEuclid and non-EuclidEuler's formulafractalsgeneral relativitygeometry of the spheregraphsHamiltonhyperbolic geometryhyperbolic planeMöbius transformationsnon-Euclidean geometryparallel postulatePoincaré discpostulatesquaternionsspace-timetiling the plane and the sphere
Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to geometry (51-01) Euclidean geometries (general) and generalizations (51M05) Euclidean analytic geometry (51N20) Tilings in (2) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C20) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to differential geometry (53-01)
This book is about geometry. In particular, it is about the idea of curvature and how it affects the assumptions about and principles of geometry. This book offers a fascinating tour through parts of geometry that students are unlikely to see in the rest of their studies while, at the same time, anchoring their excursions to the well-known parallel postulate of Euclid. The author shows how alternatives to Euclid's fifth postulate lead to interesting and different patterns and symmetries. In the course of the text, the author considers the effects of different assumptions about the sum of the angles in a triangle. The main conceptual tool is the tiling, or tessellation, of the plane. Changing an assumption on triangles leads to vastly different consequences, which can be seen literally in the geometric patterns that arise in tilings. The result of this point of view is a text that goes in atypical directions for a geometry book. In the process of looking at geometric objects, the author brings in the algebra of complex and hypercomplex numbers, fractals, some graph theory, and some topology. Nevertheless, the author's intent is to keep the book at an elementary level. Although many concepts introduced are advanced, the mathematical techniques are not. The readers of this book are assumed to have had a course in Euclidean geometry including some analytic geometry and some algebra, all at the high-school level. No calculus or trigonometry is assumed, except that the author occasionally refers to sines and cosines. On the other hand, the book touches on topics that even math majors at college may not have seen. The author attempts to be precise, not vague, about technical issues, but generally he avoids the ``theorem-proof style of exposition. Geometry is a fascinating subject, which many people find exciting and beautiful. In the author's opinion, it is better not to sterilize it by obscuring the main ideas in Euclidean formalism. Singer's lively exposition and offbeat approach will greatly appeal to both students and mathematicians. Interesting problems are nicely scattered throughout the text.
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