The evolution of the concept of homeomorphism (Q2381568)

Along the 19th century, topology was known as \textit{analysis situs}, its object of study and analysis being the properties seen as invariant under homeomorphism. The study discusses four distinct concepts, belonging to the Euclidean spaces, under which the topological properties were invariant. They were: -- deformation -- diffeomorphism -- one-one continuous mapping -- homeomorphism (viewed as a modern concept). Homeomorphisms refer not only to deformations (which permit both bending and stretching) and diffeomorphisms, and the one-one continuous functions are more general than homeomorphisms. The section devoted to homeomorphisms first mentions the famous volume, \textit{Topologie}, written by the Russian P. Aleksandrov (Alexandroff) and the German Heinz Hopf. Another paragraph discusses homeomorphisms and \(\Delta\)-homeomorphisms, the last section analyzing homeomorphisms in abstract spaces.