What are some good books on geometry for the recreational reader?
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Problem
What are some good books on geometry for the recreational reader?
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The Shape Of Space -Jeffrey Weeks [Editor: "Donald Weeks" in the original]
Subtitled "how to visualize 3-manifolds" this is a fine example of
advanced mathematics presented in an elementary manner. It's also a
lot of fun.
Geometry And The Imagination -Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen
A fine book co-authored by one of the all time greats.
Space Through The Ages -Lanczos
A historical approach to geometry, touching on many of the important
modern theories as well as their roots.
Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions. -E. A. Abbott
A classic little fable of creatures that live in a plane, one of whom
is forced to struggle with the concept of 3-dimensional space.
The Fractal Geometry Of Nature. [ Editor: by Benoit B. Mandelbrot ]
Explores the concept of fractional dimension. Many pretty pictures.
Introduction to Geometry (variant title? but about geometry)
by H. S. M. Coxeter: The best antidote to high school
geometry there is. A remarkable treatment of the subject,
using motions and transformations of the plane for most
of the proofs and definitions.