Ioan Mackenzie James

This book is a substantially revised edition of the UTM book: ISBN 0 387 96466-5, which is rewritten with a view to making the book far more accessible for undergraduates, particularly in the UK and Ireland. It contains more detailed explanations and ex ercises, together with fully worked solutions to the essential problems and a new chapter on the historical aspects.

x, 198 p. : 24 cm

Stiefel manifolds are an interesting family of spaces much studied by algebraic topologists. These notes, which originated in a course given at Harvard University, describe the state of knowledge of the subject, as well as the outstanding problems. The emphasis throughout is on applications (within the subject) rather than on theory. However, such theory as is required is summarized and references to the literature are given, thus making the book accessible to non-specialists and particularly graduate students. Many examples are given and further problems suggested.