Geometries and Groups (Universitext; Springer Series in Soviet Mathematics)

This is a quite exceptional book, a lively and approachable treatment of an important field of mathematics given in a masterly style. Assuming only a school background, the authors develop locally Euclidean geometries, going as far as the modular space of structures on the torus, treated in terms of Lobachevsky's non-Euclidean geometry. Each section is carefully motivated by discussion of the physical and general scientific implications of the mathematical argument, and its place in the history of mathematics and philosophy. The book is expected to find a place alongside classics such as Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen's "Geometry and the imagination" and Weyl's "Symmetry".