Historical evolution of the concept of homotopic paths (Q1205992)

The title gives a clear indication of the contents of this paper. The author finds prefigurations of the concept of homotopy in the calculus of variations, the works of Cauchy on integration, and of course in Riemann's thesis. The roots of this concept in algebraic geometry (expansion of algebraic functions about branch points and analytic continuation of such functions) are explored in detail. The topological distillation of the concept occupies the main portion of the paper, with particular attention to the papers of Poincaré, Tietze, and others.