Symmetry and Pattern in Projective Geometry [Paperback]

Symmetry and Pattern in Projective Geometry is a self-contained study of projective geometry which compares and contrasts the analytic and axiomatic methods. The analytic approach is based on homogeneous coordinates, and brief introductions to Pl?cker coordinates and Grassmann coordinates are presented.This book looks carefully at linear, quadratic, cubic and quartic figures in two, three and higher dimensions. It deals at length with the extensions and consequences of basic theorems such as those of Pappus and Desargues. The emphasis throughout is on special configurations that have particularly interesting symmetry properties.The intricate and novel ideas of Donald Coxeter, who is considered one of the great geometers of the twentieth century, are also discussed throughout the text. The book concludes with a useful analysis of finite geometries and a description of some of the remarkable configurations discovered by Coxeter.This book will be appreciated by mathematics students and those wishing to learn more about the subject of geometry. It makes accessible subjects and theorems which are often considered quite complicated and presents them in an easy-to-read and enjoyable manner.

This inclusive study of projective geometry covers analytic and synthetic methods, takes in linear, quadratic, cubic and quartic figures in various dimensions, and deals at length with refinements of basic theories, including those of Pappus and Desargues.

Foundations: the Synthetic Approach.- The Analytic Approach.- Linear Figures.- Quadratic Figures.- Cubic Figures.- Quartic Figures.- Finite Geometries.

From the reviews:

Here, readers meet a slice of geometry, intermediate between elementary Euclidean and modern algebraic, where first come the objects, extraordinary, surprising, and intriguing. By meeting and literally seeing these special objects, specifically linear configurations and various projective varieties of lolÃ)