Algebraic Topology: An Introduction

Graduate Texts in Mathematics #56

by William S. Massey

William S. Massey Professor Massey, born in Illinois in 1920, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and then served for four years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the War he received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and spent two additional years there as a post-doctoral research assistant. He then taught for ten years on the faculty of Brown University, and moved to his present position at Yale in 1960. He is the author of numerous research articles on algebraic topology and related topics. This book developed from lecture notes of courses taught to Yale undergraduate and graduate students over a period of several years.

Genres: Mathematics

287 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 1989

Reviews

[Geoffrey Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book essentially covers the first section of Hatcher and maybe the latter half of Munkres. I regret not finding this book earlier when I was still learning the subjects the book presents, but reading about the content again, I find this book one of the most concise presentations on it. In addition, the chapter on free groups and universal properties gives a good introduction to some useful ideas in category theory.

[CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been having one of 'those' email discussions and have pulled out several of the old standards!

Referring to this book as an Introduction is almost comical, but for one versed in the language of mathematics, it is quite readable. There are a number of notes in the margin of my copy regarding some minor set theory notation errors such as 'element of' being used in place of 'subset of' and a couple of proofs that are strangely missing a line or referencing a a lemma I could never find??

Other than that this is one of the basic 'go-to' books on this fascinating 'for me anyway' and somewhat obscure topic.

[Saman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well-written but it is not as challenging as I expected of a graduate math Algebraic Topology book.

[Keir Havel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe the perspective of someone who favors analysis, but I found the proofs very lacking in rigor. In some cases, it was simply a drawing with a little argumentation behind it.