Poincaré and the early history of 3-manifolds

Stillwell, John

doi:10.1090/S0273-0979-2012-01385-X

Poincaré and the early history of 3-manifolds
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Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 49 (2012), 555-576 Request permission

Abstract:

Recent developments in the theory of 3-manifolds, centered around the Poincaré conjecture, use methods that were not envisioned by Poincaré and his contemporaries. Nevertheless, the main themes of 3-manifold topology originated in Poincaré’s time. The purpose of this article is to reveal the origins of the subject by revisiting the world of the early topologists.

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