Principles of Topology

For a number of years, beginning with the early 70's, the authors have been delivering lectures on the fundamentals of geometry and topology in the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. This text-book is the result of this work. We shall recall that for a long period of time the basic elements of modern geometry and topology were not included, even by departments and faculties of mathematics, as compulsory subjects in a university-level mathematical education. The standard courses in classical differential geometry have gradually become outdated, and there has been, hitherto, no unanimous standpoint as to which parts of modern geometry should be viewed as abolutely essential to a modern mathematical education. In view of the necessity of using a large number of geometric concepts and methods, a modernized course in geometry was begun in 1971 in the Mechanics division of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. In addition to the traditional geometry of curves and surfaces, the course included the fundamental priniciples of tensor analysis, Riemannian geometry and topology. Some time later this course was also introduced in the division of mathematics. On the basis of these lecture courses, the following text-books appeared: