A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology: Amazon.ca: J. P. May: Books

Product Description

Algebraic topology is a basic part of modern mathematics, and some knowledge of this area is indispensable for any advanced work relating to geometry, including topology itself, differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and Lie groups. This book provides a detailed treatment of algebraic topology both for teachers of the subject and for advanced graduate students in mathematics either specializing in this area or continuing on to other fields.

J. Peter May's approach reflects the enormous internal developments within algebraic topology over the past several decades, most of which are largely unknown to mathematicians in other fields. But he also retains the classical presentations of various topics where appropriate. Most chapters end with problems that further explore and refine the concepts presented. The final four chapters provide sketches of substantial areas of algebraic topology that are normally omitted from introductory texts, and the book concludes with a list of suggested readings for those interested in delving further into the field.

About the Author

J. P. May is professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago; he is the author or coauthor of many papers and books, including Simplicial Objects in Algebraic Topology and A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology, both in the Chicago Lectures in Mathematics series.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
We introduce algebraic topology with a quick treatment of standard material about the fundamental groups of spaces, embedded in a geodesic proof of the Brouwer fixed point theorem and the fundamental theorem of algebra. Read the first page

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4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Lucid and elegant, but not for beginners, Mar 5 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology (Paperback)

This tiny textbook is well organized with an incredible amount of information. If you manage to read this, you will have much machinery of algebraic topology at hand. But, this book is not for you if you know practically nothing about the subject (hence four stars). I believe this work should be understood to have compiled "what topologists should know about algebraic topology" in a minimum number of pages.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique and Necessary Book, May 16 2002

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Michael Spertus (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology (Paperback)

Ones first exposure to algebraic topology should be a concrete and pictorial approach to gain a visual and combinatorial intuition for algebraic topology. It is really necessary to draw pictures of tori, see the holes, and then write down the chain complexes that compute them. Likewise, one should bang on the Serre Spectral Sequence with some concrete examples to learn the incredible computational powers of Algebraic Topology. There are many excellent and elementary introductions to Algebraic Topology of this type (I like Bott & Tu because of its quick introduction of spectral sequences and use of differential forms to bypass much homological algebra that is not instructive to the novice).

However, as Willard points out, mathematics is learned by successive approximation to the truth. As you becomes more mathematically sophisticated, you should relearn algebraic topology to understand it the way that working mathematicians do. Peter May's book is the only text that I know of that concisely presents the core concepts algebraic topology from a sophisticated abstract point of view. To make it even better, it is beautifully written and the pedagogy is excellent, as Peter May has been teaching and refining this course for decades. Every line has obviously been thought about carefully for correctness and clarity.

As an example, ones first exposure to singular homology should be concrete approach using singular chains, but this ultimately doesn't explain why many of the artificial-looking definitions of singular homology are the natural choices. In addition, this decidedly old-fashioned approach is hard to generalize to other combinatorial constructions.

Here is how the book does it: First, deduce the cellular homology of CW-complexes as an immediate consequence of the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms. Considering how one can extend this to general topological spaces suggests that one approximate the space by a CW-complex. Realization of the total singular complex of the space as a CW-complex is a functorial CW-approximation of the space. As the total singular complex induces an equivalence of (weak) homotopy categories and homology is homotopy-invariant, it is natural to define the singular homology of the original space to be the homology of the total singular complex. Although sophisticated, this is a deeply instructive approach, because it shows that the natural combinatorial approximation to a space is its total singular complex in the category of simplicial sets, which lets you transport of combinatorial invariants such as homology of chain complexes. This approach is essential to modern homotopy theory.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Modern Treatment of Algebraic Topology, Feb 21 2002

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Nicholas Cox-Steib (Tulsa, Ok United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology (Paperback)

One of the reasons that Algebraic Topology is difficult to learn is that often the more general constructions (which are algebraic) are difficult to motivate visually. In fact, I have often found that attempts at visuallizing lead to confusion. J. Peter May avoids confusing illistrations in this book. Constructions are motivated by the results they consort. Most importantly May employes a thoroughly modern point of view. For example: the language of cofibrations/fibrations is used throughout, the handy idea of fundamental groupoid is introduced early in the treatment of the fundamental groups, there are a couple of chapters dedecated to homological algebra intersperced, both homology and cohomology are developed from the axiomatic point of view. May concludes the text with introductions to several more advanced topics such as cobordism, K-theory, and characteristic classes. The list of books that May offers in the suggestions for further reading section at the end is fairily comprehensive.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars [too much] for a book that will just sit on your bookself
this is not a bad book, but it isnt for real. the back of the book says: ...treatment is sophisticated, no prior knowledge of the subject is assumed.

i think not. Read more

Published on Aug 5 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter May Should get some sort of award for this book
This is a wonderful book. Through years of teaching the course he has refined to a perfection. It would take another 30 years to write such a book. Read more