Characteristic Classes. (Am-76), Volume 76 - (Annals of Mathematics Studies) by John Milnor & James D Stasheff (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The theory of characteristic classes provides a meeting ground for the various disciplines of differential topology, differential and algebraic geometry, cohomology, and fiber bundle theory. As such, it is a fundamental and an essential tool in the study of differentiable manifolds.

In this volume, the authors provide a thorough introduction to characteristic classes, with detailed studies of Stiefel-Whitney classes, Chern classes, Pontrjagin classes, and the Euler class. Three appendices cover the basics of cohomology theory and the differential forms approach to characteristic classes, and provide an account of Bernoulli numbers.

Based on lecture notes of John Milnor, which first appeared at Princeton University in 1957 and have been widely studied by graduate students of topology ever since, this published version has been completely revised and corrected.

From the Back Cover

The theory of characteristic classes began in the year 1935 with almost simultaneous work by Hassler Whitney in the United States and Eduard Stiefel in Switzerland. Stiefel's thesis, written under the direction of Heinz Hopf, introduced and studied certain 'characteristic' homology classes determined by the tangent bundle of a smooth manifold.

Review Quotes

"John Milnor, Winner of the 2011 Abel Prize from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters"

"John Willard Milnor, Winner of the 2011 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement, American Mathematical Society"