Lectures on the topology of 3-manifolds. An introduction to the Casson invariant (Q5894284)

This book is an elegantly written introduction to the Casson invariant, offering necessary background material as well as providing a nice introduction to knots and 3- and 4-manifolds. The first edition was published in 1999; this book was reviewed by B. Zimmerman [Zbl 0932.57001]. The new edition provides needed context for the original work in light of Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture, particularly as the application of the Casson invariant to proving that the Rochlin invariant of a homotopy 3-sphere vanishes has become irrelevant. As noted by the author in the preface to the new edition, the invariant remains extremely relevant to low-dimensional topology today as the precursor to Floer homology theories. The new edition adds several brief comments and sections throughout the text contextualizing the earlier work in light of the proof of the Poincaré conjecture and tying in Heegaard Floer homology theory and open book decompositions where relevant. In summary, as noted by Zimmerman in his review of the 1999 edition, ``the author has succeeded in presenting a lot of material in a clear and efficient way, and the book is interesting and stimulating to read''. With the new edition, it is also set properly in the context of 21st century topology.