Introduction to Geometry, 2nd Edition

Rating:
Summary: this is not an introduction
Review: A better title for this book would be "Advanced Topics in Geometry". The chapters are pretty much self-contained.

This book presumes a thorough, rigorous knowledge of high school geometry such as you might get in a college geometry course designed for future teachers along with considerable mathematical maturity.

Rating:
Summary: this is not an introduction
Review: A better title for this book would be "Advanced Topics in Geometry". The chapters are pretty much self-contained.

This book presumes a thorough, rigorous knowledge of high school geometry such as you might get in a college geometry course designed for future teachers along with considerable mathematical maturity.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of illustrations and exercises-with answers at the back
Review: This is a wonderful book. It isn't for mathematical beginners, but it isn't opaque either. It requires a student to think, experiment and to learn by puzzling things out in one's mind rather than simple memorization and regurgitation. Nor does it follow the all too common modern method of over simplifying things to allow people to pretend they have learned math while only dabbling in a few basic topics.

This book is amply illustrated with many exercises (answers are provided at the back for all the exercises). The book also has some humor and wit with the quotes it distributes throughout the book to help liven things up.

There is also a list of helpful references and an index. When reading the book, don't be afraid of going to a dictionary or the web or some other math books for clarification of some terms or more basic concepts. It is essential to have everything clear in your mind before moving on or you will stumble. As in all math, it is like a building with the next stage being built on the present one which is built on the previous one. You can't skip steps very successfully very often.

This is a great volume to have in your library, but even better to work through.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of illustrations and exercises-with answers at the back
Review: This is a wonderful book. It isn't for mathematical beginners, but it isn't opaque either. It requires a student to think, experiment and to learn by puzzling things out in one's mind rather than simple memorization and regurgitation. Nor does it follow the all too common modern method of over simplifying things to allow people to pretend they have learned math while only dabbling in a few basic topics.

This book is amply illustrated with many exercises (answers are provided at the back for all the exercises). The book also has some humor and wit with the quotes it distributes throughout the book to help liven things up.

There is also a list of helpful references and an index. When reading the book, don't be afraid of going to a dictionary or the web or some other math books for clarification of some terms or more basic concepts. It is essential to have everything clear in your mind before moving on or you will stumble. As in all math, it is like a building with the next stage being built on the present one which is built on the previous one. You can't skip steps very successfully very often.

This is a great volume to have in your library, but even better to work through.

Rating:
Summary: Best survey of geometry.
Review: This is Coxeter best book. Introduction to Geometry covers a wide range of topics and is the first book that I will look at for any geometry topic. It is now a little dated but only in the topics that it does not cover. Like all of Coxeter works each topic is clear and to the point. If you only buy one book on geometry this is it.