Both classical geometry and modern differential geometry have been active subjects of research throughout the 20th century and lie at the heart of many recent advances in mathematics and physics. The underlying motivating concept for the present book is that it offers readers the elements of a modern geometric culture by means of a whole series of visually appealing unsolved (or recently solved) problems that require the creation of concepts and tools of varying abstraction. Starting with such natural, classical objects as lines, planes, circles, spheres, polygons, polyhedra, curves, surfaces, convex sets, etc., crucial ideas and above all abstract concepts needed for attaining the results are elucidated. These are conceptual notions, each built "above" the preceding and permitting an increase in abstraction, represented metaphorically by Jacob's ladder with its rungs: the 'ladder' in the Old Testament, that angels ascended and descended... In all this, the aim of the book is to demonstrate to readers the unceasingly renewed spirit of geometry and that even so-called "elementary" geometry is very much alive and at the very heart of the work of numerous contemporary mathematicians. It is also shown that there are innumerable paths yet to be explored and concepts to be created. The book is visually rich and inviting, so that readers may open it at random places and find much pleasure throughout according their own intuitions and inclinations. Marcel Berger is t he author of numerous successful books on geometry, this book once again is addressed to all students and teachers of mathematics with an affinity for geometry.

Number Theory Revealed: A Masterclass acquaints enthusiastic students with the “Queen of Mathematics”. The text offers a fresh take on congruences, power residues, quadratic residues, primes, and Diophantine equations and presents hot topics like cryptography, factoring, and primality testing. Students are also introduced to beautiful enlightening questions like the structure of Pascal's triangle mod p p and modern twists on traditional questions like the values represented by binary quadratic forms, the anatomy of integers, and elliptic curves. This Masterclass edition contains many additional chapters and appendices not found in Number Theory Revealed: An Introduction, highlighting beautiful developments and inspiring other subjects in mathematics (like algebra). This allows instructors to tailor a course suited to their own (and their students') interests. There are new yet accessible topics like the curvature of circles in a tiling of a circle by circles, the latest discoveries on gaps between primes, a new proof of Mordell's Theorem for congruent elliptic curves, and a discussion of the abc abc-conjecture including its proof for polynomials.

A fascinating and inspirational look at the vital link between the hidden geometrical order of the universe, geometry in nature, and the geometry of the man-made world. The Da Vinci Code has awakened the public to the powerful and very ancient idea that religious truths and mathematical principles are intimately intertwined. Sacred Geometry offers an accessible way of understanding how that connection is revealed in nature and the arts. Over the centuries, temple builders have relied on magic numbers to shape sacred spaces, astronomers have used geometry to calculate holy seasons, and philosophers have observed the harmony of the universe in the numerical properties of music. By showing how the discoveries of mathematics are manifested over and over again in biology and physics, and how they have inspired the greatest works of art, this illuminating study reveals the universal principles that link us to the infinite.

An inviting, intuitive, and visual exploration of differential geometry and forms Visual Differential Geometry and Forms fulfills two principal goals. In the first four acts, Tristan Needham puts the geometry back into differential geometry. Using 235 hand-drawn diagrams, Needham deploys Newton’s geometrical methods to provide geometrical explanations of the classical results. In the fifth act, he offers the first undergraduate introduction to differential forms that treats advanced topics in an intuitive and geometrical manner. Unique features of the first four acts include: four distinct geometrical proofs of the fundamentally important Global Gauss-Bonnet theorem, providing a stunning link between local geometry and global topology; a simple, geometrical proof of Gauss’s famous Theorema Egregium; a complete geometrical treatment of the Riemann curvature tensor of an n-manifold; and a detailed geometrical treatment of Einstein’s field equation, describing gravity as curved spacetime (General Relativity), together with its implications for gravitational waves, black holes, and cosmology. The final act elucidates such topics as the unification of all the integral theorems of vector calculus; the elegant reformulation of Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism in terms of 2-forms; de Rham cohomology; differential geometry via Cartan’s method of moving frames; and the calculation of the Riemann tensor using curvature 2-forms. Six of the seven chapters of Act V can be read completely independently from the rest of the book. Requiring only basic calculus and geometry, Visual Differential Geometry and Forms provocatively rethinks the way this important area of mathematics should be considered and taught.

Greek ideas about geometry, straight-edge and compass constructions, and the nature of mathematical proof dominated mathematical thought for about 2,000 years.

This book consists of two parts, different in form but similar in spirit. The first, which comprises chapters 0 through 9, is a revised and somewhat enlarged version of the 1972 book Geometrie Differentielle. The second part, chapters 10 and 11, is an attempt to remedy the notorious absence in the original book of any treatment of surfaces in three-space, an omission all the more unforgivable in that surfaces are some of the most common geometrical objects, not only in mathematics but in many branches of physics. Geometrie Differentielle was based on a course I taught in Paris in 1969- 70 and again in 1970-71. In designing this course I was decisively influ enced by a conversation with Serge Lang, and I let myself be guided by three general ideas. First, to avoid making the statement and proof of Stokes' formula the climax of the course and running out of time before any of its applications could be discussed. Second, to illustrate each new notion with non-trivial examples, as soon as possible after its introduc tion. And finally, to familiarize geometry-oriented students with analysis and analysis-oriented students with geometry, at least in what concerns manifolds.

A groundbreaking look at the phenomenon of the labyrinth, connecting this ancient symbol to modern scientific principles. • Illustrated with labyrinths from around the world and throughout history. • Demonstrates how the labyrinth differs from a maze and how it is a tool for interpreting ancient myths and religious beliefs. • Draws parallels between the labyrinth and quantum physics, showing how through the secrets of the labyrinth we can unlock the mystery of life itself. The powerful symbol of the labyrinth exists in countless cultures spanning the globe from Africa and ancient Greece to India, China, and pre-Colombian North and South America. For centuries they have been used for religious rituals, meditation, and spiritual and physical healing. In the labyrinth humanity finds a model of the quintessential sacred space that depicts the most profound levels of consciousness. Its center is regarded in many cultures as a door between two worlds, thus providing individuals with the ideal place for self questioning and meditation. In a comprehensive exploration of this time-honored symbol, Patrick Conty shows how the geometrical construction of the ancient labyrinth corresponds exactly with today's modern geometry, illustrating that recent developments in math and physics parallel the science of ancient civilizations. By looking at the way the two systems complement each other, Conty draws new conclusions about the ancient world and how that world can benefit us right now. Conty explores not only physical labyrinths but also reveals how the same transcendent principles are at work in Celtic knot work; the designs of ancient Chinese cauldrons; the tattoos and tracings of primitive art; the textiles of Africa, Peru, and Central America; and the geometric patterns in Islamic art.

The story of the development of geometry is told as it emerged from the concepts of the ancient Greeks, familiar from high school, to the four-dimensional space-time that is central to our modern vision of the universe. The reader is first reacquainted with the geometric system compiled by Euclid with its postulates thought to be self-evident truths. A particular focus is on Euclid’s fifth postulate, the Parallel Postulate and the many efforts to improve Euclid’s system over hundreds of years by proving it from the first four postulates. Two thousand years after Euclid, in the process that would reveal the Parallel Postulate as an independent postulate, a new geometry was discovered that changed the understanding of geometry and mathematics, while paving the way for Einstein’s General Relativity. The mathematics to describe the non-Euclidean geometries and the geometric universe of General Relativity is initiated in the language of mathematics available to a general audience. The story is told as a mathematical narrative, bringing the reader along step by step with all the background needed in analytic geometry, the calculus, vectors, and Newton’s laws to allow the reader to move forward to the revolutionary extension of geometry by Riemann that would supply Einstein with the language needed to overthrow Newton’s universe. Using the mathematics acquired for Riemannian geometry, the principles behind Einstein’s General Relativity are described and their realization in the Field Equations is presented. From the Field Equations, it is shown how they govern the curved paths of light and that of planets along the geodesics formed from the geometry of space-time, and how they provide a picture of the universe’s birth, expansion, and future. Thus, Euclid’s geometry while no longer thought to spring from perceived absolute truths as the ancients believed, ultimately provided the seed for a new understanding of geometry that in its infinite variety became central to the description of the universe, marking mathematics as a one of the great modes of human expression.

An instant New York Times Bestseller! “Unreasonably entertaining . . . reveals how geometric thinking can allow for everything from fairer American elections to better pandemic planning.” —The New York Times From the New York Times-bestselling author of How Not to Be Wrong—himself a world-class geometer—a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everything. How should a democracy choose its representatives? How can you stop a pandemic from sweeping the world? How do computers learn to play Go, and why is learning Go so much easier for them than learning to read a sentence? Can ancient Greek proportions predict the stock market? (Sorry, no.) What should your kids learn in school if they really want to learn to think? All these are questions about geometry. For real. If you're like most people, geometry is a sterile and dimly remembered exercise you gladly left behind in the dust of ninth grade, along with your braces and active romantic interest in pop singers. If you recall any of it, it's plodding through a series of miniscule steps only to prove some fact about triangles that was obvious to you in the first place. That's not geometry. Okay, it is geometry, but only a tiny part, which has as much to do with geometry in all its flush modern richness as conjugating a verb has to do with a great novel. Shape reveals the geometry underneath some of the most important scientific, political, and philosophical problems we face. Geometry asks: Where are things? Which things are near each other? How can you get from one thing to another thing? Those are important questions. The word "geometry"comes from the Greek for "measuring the world." If anything, that's an undersell. Geometry doesn't just measure the world—it explains it. Shape shows us how.