Ebook: Geometry by its history

In this textbook the authors present first-year geometry roughly in the order in which it was discovered. The first five chapters show how the ancient Greeks established geometry, together with its numerous practical applications, while more recent findings on Euclidian geometry are discussed as well. The following three chapters explain the revolution in geometry due to the progress made in the field of algebra by Descartes, Euler and Gauss. Spatial geometry, vector algebra and matrices are treated in chapters 9 and 10. The last chapter offers an introduction to projective geometry, which emerged in the 19^thcentury.

Complemented by numerous examples, exercises, figures and pictures, the book offers both motivation and insightful explanations, and provides stimulating and enjoyable reading for students and teachers alike.

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An extensive and self-contained presentation of quantum and related invariants of knots and 3-manifolds. Polynomial invariants of knots, such as the Jones and Alexander polynomials, are constructed as quantum invariants, in other words, invariants derived from representations of quantum groups and from the monodromy of solutions to the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation. With the introduction of the Kontsevich invariant and the theory of Vassiliev invariants, the quantum invariants become well-organized. Quantum and perturbative invariants, the LMO invariant, and finite type invariants of 3-manifolds are discussed. The Chern-Simons field theory and the Wess-Zumino-Witten model are described as the physical background of the invariants Part 1. Classical Geometry -- Thales and Pythagoras -- The Elements of Euclid -- Conic Sections -- Further Results in Euclidean Geometry -- Trigonometry -- Part 2. Analytic Geometry -- Descartes' Geometry -- Cartesian Coordinates -- To be Constructible, or not to be -- Spatial Geometry and Vector Algebra -- Matrices and Linear Mappings -- Projective Geometry -- Solutions to the Exercises