Solid Analytic Geometry by Abraham Adrian AlbertMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This slim volume is a concise introduction to the basic topics of solid analytic geometry. The content is sufficient in quantity and velocity for a one-semester course for undergraduates. There is here a more rigorous consideration of general theory, as opposed to application cases and contrived exercises, than I see in modern texts aimed at the same level. Basically, the author starts from the general into the specific, a trend uncommon in comparable, modern texts. For instance, cylinders are introduced: “A cylinder is a surface consisting all of the points on all the lines which are parallel to a given line and which pass through a fixed plane curve in a plane not parallel to the given line.” There is something a tad awkward about these introductions. Yet, I appreciate the approach of beginning verbal before the mathematical and defining generally instead of building up from simpler examples, such as a right cylinder. This more easily admits of, say, an elliptic or even hyperbolic cylinder. The latter of which would strike many students as contrary to initial definitions and examples and even unsettling...
[Look for my entire review up at MAA Reviews.]
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