Wow! eBook
UNDERGRADUATE TOPOLOGY:WORKING TEXTB P: A Working Textbook
Author(s): Aisling MCCLUSKEY (Author), MCMASTER (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication Date: 24 July 2014
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 158 pages
- ISBN-10: 0198702345
- ISBN-13: 9780198702344
Book Description
Point-set topology is a discipline that needs relatively little background knowledge, but sufficient determination to grasp ideas precisely and to argue with straight and careful logic. Research and long experience in undergraduate mathematics education suggests that an optimal way to learn such a subject is to teach it to yourself, pro-actively, by guided reading of brief skeleton notes and by doing your own spadework to fill in the details and to flesh out the examples. This text will facilitate such an approach for those learners who opt to do it this way and for those instructors who would like to encourage this so-called ‘Moore approach’, even for a modest segment of the teaching term or for part of the class.
In reality, most students simply do not have the combination of time, background and motivation needed to implement such a plan fully. The accessibility, flexibility and completeness of this text enable it to be used equally effectively for more conventional instructor-led courses. Critically, it furnishes a rich variety of exercises and examples, many of which have specimen solutions, through which to gain in confidence and competence.
Editorial Reviews
Review
General Topology is a vast fundamental domain of mathematics. Its basic concepts, and central ideas of convergence and continuity, are connected by a multitude of links to practically every domain of mathematics. This makes writing a reasonably balanced undergraduate textbook on General Topology a formidable task. The authors have resoundingly accomplished this task in the creation of a unique textbook, less than 150 pages long, which offers the core basics of General Topology in a manner that allows instructor and student alike to take an active and insightful approach to their teaching and learning. Even more, students can select their own measure of initiative and creativity as they proceed. ―
A. V. Arhangel’skii, Ohio UniversityThis approachable and engaging book should help students gain confidence and practice in building mathematical theory by themselves. ―
Stephen Watson, York University TorontoThis text marks a timely addition to the literature; it provides a rich resource and opportunity for the contemporary student to learn deeply, to learn as a âworkingâ mathematician, to learn by doing mathematics . . . That learning is cleverly and subtly supported throughout by the text’s novel and engaging presentation. ―
Jan van Mill, University of AmsterdamAbout the Author
Brian McMaster studied at Queen’s University Belfast, graduating with a PhD in 1972, and has served his alma mater department in various capacities including those of Adviser of Studies, Head of Research and Associate Director of Education. His publication profile covers over sixty refereed journal articles, mostly in the area of general topology but incorporating applications in disciplines as diverse as probabilistic metric spaces and decision support theory. He is presently formally retired but continues to deliver a full undergraduate teaching load on a voluntary basis, following his lifelong commitment to and passion for communicating mathematics to students. His teaching interests focus around analysis (real and complex) and set theory and their development into various fields especially that of analytic topology.
