This textbook offers a hands-on introduction to general topology, a fundamental tool in mathematics and its applications. It provides solid foundations for further study in mathematics in general, and topology in particular.
Aimed at undergraduate students in mathematics with no previous exposure to topology, the book presents key concepts in a mathematically rigorous yet accessible manner, illustrated by numerous examples. The essential feature of the book is the large sets of worked exercises at the end of each chapter. All of the basic topics are covered, namely, metric spaces, continuous maps, homeomorphisms, connectedness, and compactness. The book also explains the main constructions of new topological spaces such as product spaces and quotient spaces. The final chapter makes a foray into algebraic topology with the introduction of the fundamental group.
Thanks to nearly 300 solved exercises and abundant examples, Point-Set Topology is especially suitable for supplementing a first lecture course on topology for undergraduates, and it can also be utilized for independent study. The only prerequisites for reading the book are familiarity with mathematical proofs, some elements of set theory, and a good grasp of calculus.
Rafael López has received three Pura Belpré Award medals from the American Library Association for Dancing Hands, Drum Dream Girl and Book Fiesta! The illustrations created by López bring diverse characters to children’s books and he works to produce and promote books that reflect and honor the lives of all young people.
His 2018 picture book release, The Day You Begin written by Jacqueline Woodson was a New York Times #1 Children’s Picture Books Bestseller and the recipient of the 2019 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award. Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor focuses on differently abled kids working together to create a garden. The book is a #1 New York Times Children’s Picture Books Bestseller and won the American Library Association's 2020 Schneider Family Book Award.
His illustrations for Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics was honored with the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators New York Original Art Exhibition. The book Maybe Something Beautiful based on his own work reclaiming neighborhoods with community murals secured the Tomás Rivera Book Award. Additional children's books have received three Pura Belpré honors and two Américas Book Awards for illustration.
He created a series of 54 portraits for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino. In 2012 he was asked by the Library of Congress to create the National Book Festival Poster featuring best-selling authors, poets and illustrators on the National Mall in Washington D.C. He has created thirteen stamps for the United States Postal Service.