An edition of The knot book (1994)

The knot book

an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots

  • 1 Want to read
Locate

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today

  • 1 Want to read

Buy this book

Last edited by MARC Bot
July 25, 2024 | History
An edition of The knot book (1994)

The knot book

an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots

  • 1 Want to read

Over a century old, knot theory is today one of the most active areas of modern mathematics. The study of knots has led to important applications in DNA research and the synthesis of new molecules. And it is having a significant impact on statistical mechanics and quantum field theory.

Many of the problems discussed in knot theory, including those treated here, can be understood with only a background of high school algebra and can be solved by the curious amateur. All you need to begin is a piece of string, a little math, a little imagination, and Colin Adams's The Knot Book - the first book to make cutting-edge research in knot theory accessible to a nonspecialist audience.

What are the different properties and classifications of knots? How do you determine whether a knot is actually knotted or can be untangled? What is the appropriate measure of the complexity of a knot? What does knot theory research offer to other sciences? In The Knot Book Colin Adams describes and illustrates the work being done to answer these questions.

Starting with the simplest knot (the trivial knot or unknot), Adams guides readers through increasingly more intricate twists and turns of knot theory, exploring problems and theorems mathematicians now can solve, as well as those that remain open. He also looks at how knot theory is providing important insights in biology, chemistry, physics, and other fields.

Included are hundreds of illustrations of knots (including a table at the end of the book displaying nearly 200 different knots) as well as worked examples, exercises open problems - even a few knot jokes and pastimes.

Colin Adams explains knot theory with an enthusiasm and an informal style that makes this seemingly mysterious subject easy to approach. With The Knot Book and a mathematical background that includes no more than a familiarity with polynomials, you will be able to understand and work with some of the discipline's most modern and provocative ideas.

Publish Date
Publisher
W.H. Freeman
Language
English
Pages
306

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The knot book
The knot book: an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots
2004, American Mathematical Society
in English
Cover of: The knot book
The knot book: an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots
1994, W.H. Freeman
in English

Add another edition?

Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-302) and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
514/.224
Library of Congress
QA612.2 .A33 1994, QA612.2.A33 1994

The Physical Object

Pagination
xiii, 306 p. :
Number of pages
306

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1436915M
Internet Archive
knotbook00adam
ISBN 10
071672393X
LCCN
93049412
OCLC/WorldCat
29564589
Library Thing
543140
Goodreads
2382201

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

This work does not appear on any lists.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
July 25, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
May 28, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
April 28, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Linked existing covers to the work.
February 6, 2010 Edited by WorkBot add more information to works
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page