Customer Reviews

How Surfaces Intersect In Space: An Introduction To Topology (2Nd Edition) (Series on Knots and Everything)

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I have been trying to teach myself topology and just finished the Weeks book on the shape of space. This book in comparison was a bit tougher going and a step towards teaching myself with a standard textbook. I think the previous review must have been a friend of the author because I can't say I was as enthusiastic about the book (and anyway it is a feat in itself to create paper models from the primative rapidograph drawings the author provides). I found it hard to follow the author's style and would have preferred more precision in his language. The drawings may be clear to the author but they were very confusing to me. I am not a bad artist and would find it impossible to create real life models from those drawings, many of which are a mess. On the positive side, Professor Carter relates the flavor of topology like the appetizers before a sumptuous banquet. I learned a little bit more about the subject and he shares the results of his personal research which is always good. In sum, it was a good read and probably deserves a reread. It was not a great read.

There are hundreds of diagrams of surfaces in the book. I (with assistance from my wife and two teenage children) built virtually every one with scissors, tape, and glue. We were amazed at the number of interesting questions about the shape of space that were raised in the process. In answering them, we have come to look at the world differently. Even an ordinary chair is seen as a movie with elementary changes from frame to frame. My wife made connections with sewing. We got ideas for dozens of science fair projects. We developed the beginnings of an intuition about objects in four dimensions. I will always look back on the period when I read this book as one of the exciting times of my life. The book earns my very highest recommendation.