A Royal Road to Algebraic Geometry


Book Description

This book is about modern algebraic geometry. The title A Royal Road to Algebraic Geometry is inspired by the famous anecdote about the king asking Euclid if there really existed no simpler way for learning geometry, than to read all of his work Elements. Euclid is said to have answered: “There is no royal road to geometry!” The book starts by explaining this enigmatic answer, the aim of the book being to argue that indeed, in some sense there is a royal road to algebraic geometry. From a point of departure in algebraic curves, the exposition moves on to the present shape of the field, culminating with Alexander Grothendieck’s theory of schemes. Contemporary homological tools are explained. The reader will follow a directed path leading up to the main elements of modern algebraic geometry. When the road is completed, the reader is empowered to start navigating in this immense field, and to open up the door to a wonderful field of research. The greatest scientific experience of a lifetime!







Lebesgue Integration on Euclidean Space


Book Description

"'Lebesgue Integration on Euclidean Space' contains a concrete, intuitive, and patient derivation of Lebesgue measure and integration on Rn. It contains many exercises that are incorporated throughout the text, enabling the reader to apply immediately the new ideas that have been presented" --




The Wonder Book of Geometry


Book Description

How can we be sure that Pythagoras's theorem is really true? Why is the 'angle in a semicircle' always 90 degrees? And how can tangents help determine the speed of a bullet? David Acheson takes the reader on a highly illustrated tour through the history of geometry, from ancient Greece to the present day. He emphasizes throughout elegant deduction and practical applications, and argues that geometry can offer the quickest route to the whole spirit of mathematics at its best. Along the way, we encounter the quirky and the unexpected, meet the great personalities involved, and uncover some of the loveliest surprises in mathematics.




How Not to Be Wrong


Book Description

A brilliant tour of mathematical thought and a guide to becoming a better thinker, How Not to Be Wrong shows that math is not just a long list of rules to be learned and carried out by rote. Math touches everything we do; It's what makes the world make sense. Using the mathematician's methods and hard-won insights-minus the jargon-professor and popular columnist Jordan Ellenberg guides general readers through his ideas with rigor and lively irreverence, infusing everything from election results to baseball to the existence of God and the psychology of slime molds with a heightened sense of clarity and wonder. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see the hidden structures beneath the messy and chaotic surface of our daily lives. How Not to Be Wrong shows us how--Publisher's description.







The Geometry of Schemes


Book Description

Grothendieck’s beautiful theory of schemes permeates modern algebraic geometry and underlies its applications to number theory, physics, and applied mathematics. This simple account of that theory emphasizes and explains the universal geometric concepts behind the definitions. In the book, concepts are illustrated with fundamental examples, and explicit calculations show how the constructions of scheme theory are carried out in practice.




Euclid's Window


Book Description

Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology. Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.




Algebraic Geometry


Book Description

An introduction to abstract algebraic geometry, with the only prerequisites being results from commutative algebra, which are stated as needed, and some elementary topology. More than 400 exercises distributed throughout the book offer specific examples as well as more specialised topics not treated in the main text, while three appendices present brief accounts of some areas of current research. This book can thus be used as textbook for an introductory course in algebraic geometry following a basic graduate course in algebra. Robin Hartshorne studied algebraic geometry with Oscar Zariski and David Mumford at Harvard, and with J.-P. Serre and A. Grothendieck in Paris. He is the author of "Residues and Duality", "Foundations of Projective Geometry", "Ample Subvarieties of Algebraic Varieties", and numerous research titles.




Math with Bad Drawings


Book Description

A hilarious reeducation in mathematics-full of joy, jokes, and stick figures-that sheds light on the countless practical and wonderful ways that math structures and shapes our world. In Math With Bad Drawings, Ben Orlin reveals to us what math actually is; its myriad uses, its strange symbols, and the wild leaps of logic and faith that define the usually impenetrable work of the mathematician. Truth and knowledge come in multiple forms: colorful drawings, encouraging jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone. Orlin shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a brand-new game of tic-tac-toe, how to understand an economic crises by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical headache that ensues when attempting to build a spherical Death Star. Every discussion in the book is illustrated with Orlin's trademark "bad drawings," which convey his message and insights with perfect pitch and clarity. With 24 chapters covering topics from the electoral college to human genetics to the reasons not to trust statistics, Math with Bad Drawings is a life-changing book for the math-estranged and math-enamored alike.