Elementary Geometry of Differentiable Curves An Undergraduate Introduction [Hardcover]

This book is an introductory text on the differential geometry of plane curves.This genuine introduction to the differential geometry of plane curves is designed as a first text for undergraduates in mathematics, or postgraduates and researchers in the engineering and physical sciences. The book assumes only foundational year mathematics: it is well illustrated, and contains several hundred worked examples and exercises, making it suitable for adoption as a course text.This genuine introduction to the differential geometry of plane curves is designed as a first text for undergraduates in mathematics, or postgraduates and researchers in the engineering and physical sciences. The book assumes only foundational year mathematics: it is well illustrated, and contains several hundred worked examples and exercises, making it suitable for adoption as a course text.Here is a genuine introduction to the differential geometry of plane curves for undergraduates in mathematics, or postgraduates and researchers in the engineering and physical sciences. This well-illustrated text contains several hundred worked examples and exercises, making it suitable for adoption as a course text. Key concepts are illustrated by named curves, of historical and scientific significance, leading to the central idea of curvature. The author introduces the core material of classical kinematics, developing the geometry of trajectories via the ideas of roulettes and centrodes, and culminating in the inflexion circle and cubic of stationary curvature.1. The Euclidean plane; 2. Parametrized curves; 3. Classes of special curves; 4. Arc length; 5. Curvature; 6. Existence and uniqueness; 7. Contact with lines; 8. Contact with circles; 9. Vertices; 10. Envelopes; 11. Orthotomics; 12. Caustics by reflexion; 13. Planar kinematics; 14. Centrodes; 15. Geometry of trajectories. This book is pleasant for a student...It contains many interesting properties and features of curves which usually are not shown in a relƒ,