3rd Edition

Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces

By Thomas F. Banchoff, Stephen Lovett Copyright 2022
    384 Pages 78 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    384 Pages 78 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Through two previous editions, the third edition of this popular and intriguing text takes both an analytical/theoretical approach and a visual/intuitive approach to the local and global properties of curves and surfaces.

    Requiring only multivariable calculus and linear algebra, it develops students’ geometric intuition through interactive graphics applets. Applets are presented in Maple workbook format, which readers can access using the free Maple Player.

    The book explains the reasons for various definitions while the interactive applets offer motivation for definitions, allowing students to explore examples further, and give a visual explanation of complicated theorems. The ability to change parametric curves and parametrized surfaces in an applet lets students probe the concepts far beyond what static text permits. Investigative project ideas promote student research.

    At users of the previous editions' request, this third edition offers a broader list of exercises. More elementary exercises are added and some challenging problems are moved later in exercise sets to assure more graduated progress. The authors also add hints to motivate students grappling with the more difficult exercises.

    This student-friendly and readable approach offers additional examples, well-placed to assist student comprehension. In the presentation of the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem, the authors provide more intuition and stepping-stones to help students grasp phenomena behind it. Also, the concept of a homeomorphism is new to students even though it is a key theoretical component of the definition of a regular surface. Providing more examples show students how to prove certain functions are homeomorphisms.

    Preface
    1 Plane Curves: Local Properties
    1.1 Parametrizations
    1.2 Position, Velocity, and Acceleration
    1.3 Curvature
    1.4 Osculating Circles, Evolutes, Involutes
    1.5 Natural Equations
    2 Plane Curves: Global Properties
    2.1 Basic Properties
    2.2 Rotation Index
    2.3 Isoperimetric Inequality
    2.4 Curvature, Convexity, and the Four-Vertex Theorem
    3 Curves in Space: Local Properties
    3.1 Definitions, Examples, and Differentiation
    3.2 Curvature, Torsion, and the Frenet Frame
    3.3 Osculating Plane and Osculating Sphere
    3.4 Natural Equations
    4 Curves in Space: Global Properties
    4.1 Basic Properties
    4.2 Indicatrices and Total Curvature
    4.3 Knots and Links
    5 Regular Surfaces
    5.1 Parametrized Surfaces
    5.2 Tangent Planes; The Differential
    5.3 Regular Surfaces
    5.4 Change of Coordinates; Orientability
    6 First and Second Fundamental Forms
    6.1 The First Fundamental Form
    6.2 Map Projections (Optional)
    6.3 The Gauss Map
    6.4 The Second Fundamental Form
    6.5 Normal and Principal Curvatures
    6.6 Gaussian and Mean Curvatures
    6.7 Developable Surfaces; Minimal Surfaces
    7 Fundamental Equations of Surfaces
    7.1 Gauss’s Equations; Christoffel Symbols
    7.2 Codazzi Equations; Theorema Egregium
    7.3 Fundamental Theorem of Surface Theory
    8 Gauss-Bonnet Theorem; Geodesics
    8.1 Curvatures and Torsion
    8.2 Gauss-Bonnet Theorem, Local Form
    8.3 Gauss-Bonnet Theorem, Global Form
    8.4 Geodesics
    8.5 Geodesic Coordinates
    8.6 Applications to Plane, Spherical, and Elliptic Geometry
    8.7 Hyperbolic Geometry
    9 Curves and Surfaces in n-dimensional Space
    9.1 Curves in n-dimensional Euclidean Space
    9.2 Surfaces in Euclidean n-Space
    Appendix A: Tensor Notation
    Index

    Biography

    Thomas F. Banchoff is a geometer and a professor at Brown University. Dr. Banchoff was president of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) from 1999 to 2000. He has published numerous papers in a variety of journals and has been the recipient of many honors, including the MAA’s Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award and Brown’s Teaching with Technology Award. He is the author of several books, including Linear Algebra Through Geometry with John Wermer and Beyond the Third Dimension.

    Stephen Lovett is an associate professor of mathematics at Wheaton College. Dr. Lovett has taught introductory courses on differential geometry for many years, including at Eastern Nazarene College. He has given many talks over the past several years on differential and algebraic geometry as well as cryptography. In 2015, he was awarded Wheaton’s Senior Scholarship Faculty Award. He is the author of Abstract Algebra: Structures and Applications, Differential Geometry of Manifolds, Second Edition, A Transition to Advanced Mathematics with Danilo Dedrichs (forthcoming), all published by CRC Press.

    I endorse this third edition with enthusiasm. Moving away from Java based applets for the previous edition to Maplesoft based applets is significant. There are many new examples, and these are more clearly identified. There are many significant changes to produce a more useful and attractive teaching too. Figures are well-placed to be easily matched to the text. Adding historical vignettes help students appreciate how the topic developed.--Ken Rosen