Sources of Hyperbolic Geometry

This book presents, for the first time in English, the papers of Beltrami, Klein, and Poincaré that brought hyperbolic geometry into the mainstream of mathematics. A recognition of Beltrami comparable to that given the pioneering works of Bolyai and Lobachevsky seems long overdue---not only because Beltrami rescued hyperbolic geometry from oblivion by proving it to be logically consistent, but because he gave it a concrete meaning (a model) that made hyperbolic geometry part of ordinary mathematics. <P>The models subsequently discovered by Klein and Poincaré brought hyperbolic geometry even further down to earth and paved the way for the current explosion of activity in low-dimensional geometry and topology. <P>By placing the works of these three mathematicians side by side and providing commentaries, this book gives the student, historian, or professional geometer a bird's-eye view of one of the great episodes in mathematics. The unified setting and historical context reveal the insights of Beltrami, Klein, and Poincaré in their full brilliance.
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