Riemannian Geometry: A Beginners Guide, Second Edition [Hardcover]

Frank Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 1568810733 | ISBN-13: 978-1568810737 | Edition: 2

This classic text serves as a tool for self-study; it is also used as a basic text for undergraduate courses in differential geometry. The author's ability to extract the essential elements of the theory in a lucid and concise fashion allows the student easy access to the material and enables the instructor to add emphasis and cover special topics. The extraordinary wealth of examples within the exercises and the new material, ranging from isoperimetric problems to comments on Einstein's original paper on relativity theory, enhance this new edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank Morgan is the Atwell Professor of Mathematics at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: A K Peters/CRC Press; 2 edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568810733
• ISBN-13: 978-1568810737
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,756,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Riemannian Geometry - A Beginner's Guide, March 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Riemannian Geometry: A Beginners Guide, Second Edition (Hardcover)

Well I am only on page 10 and am considering quiting this book. I have a BSEE with quite a lot of mathematics history, but I know nothing about Riemann geometry. I got bogged down right from the beginning with this book. It's not that the material - so far - is that demanding, but the explanations are terse at best and some formulas seem to pop onto the page from hyperspace. Some variables are undefined, unfamiliar nomenclature is used without explanation and there is no exposition to show from where some rather complicated formula appear. Too much is assumed by the author for a book that claims to be a "beginners guide". You can waste a lot of time trying to guess what is on the authors mind.

I get the impression that by adding another 10 pages or so of elucidating math and text this might be a nice little survey of the subject matter, but as is I can't recommend it.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice easy going book., June 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Riemannian Geometry: A Beginners Guide, Second Edition (Hardcover)

Can't agree with my friend from Ann Arbor. This is the most accesible book on Riemannian Geometry. Or to be precise, this is not even a book on Riemannian Geometry, It's only a guide! The author doesn't take the universal intrinsic approach to the subject, but only look at everything as a subspace of Eucleadean space, and see how those apparently extrinsically defined concepts indeed have intrinsic meannings. And that gives you a taste of the real part, which you must turn to some other books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A concise review of curvature, August 11, 2008

By 

doodler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riemannian Geometry: A Beginners Guide, Second Edition (Hardcover)

I wish I had read these reviews before my purchase. I was disappointed in this book. It is certainly no beginners guide. I found the author's chapter on Relativity to be un-inspiring. This book is clearly intended as a review of the material for persons already familiar with the mathematics of it. He even admits as much in his introduction. Successful geometers who wish to have a bird's eye view of the complex material or wish to gain knowledge of future study areas within diff. geometry are recommened to this book.