TY - BOOK AU - McInerney, Andrew TI - First steps in differential geometry: Riemannian, contact, symplectic SN - 9781489990464 U1 - 516.36 23rd PY - 2013/// CY - New York PB - Springer Scieence KW - Mathematics KW - Geometry KW - Differential Geometry N2 - Differential geometry arguably offers the smoothest transition from the standard university mathematics sequence of the first four semesters in calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations to the higher levels of abstraction and proof encountered at the upper division by mathematics majors. Today it is possible to describe differential geometry as "the study of structures on the tangent space," and this text develops this point of view. Also includes references and index. This book, unlike other introductory texts in differential geometry, develops the architecture necessary to introduce symplectic and contact geometry alongside its Riemannian cousin. The main goal of this book is to bring the undergraduate student who already has a solid foundation in the standard mathematics curriculum into contact with the beauty of higher mathematics. In particular, the presentation here emphasizes the consequences of a definition and the careful use of examples and constructions in order to explore those consequences ER -