Preface

Summary

My goals in this book on Riemannian geometry are essentially the same as those that guided me in my Eigenvalues in Riemannian Geometry (1984): to introduce the subject, to coherently present a number of its basic techniques and results with a mind to future work, and to present some of the results that are attractive in their own right. This book differs from Eigenvalues in that it starts at a more basic level. Therefore, it must present a broader view of the ideas from which all the various directions emerge. At the same time, other treatments of Riemannian geometry are available at varying levels and interests, so I need not introduce everything. I have, therefore, attempted a viable introduction to Riemannian geometry for a very broad group of students, with emphases and developments in areas not covered by other books.

My treatment presupposes an introductory course on manifolds, the construction of associated tensor bundles, and Stokes' theorem. When necessary, I recall the facts and/or refer to the literature in which these matters are discussed in detail.

I have not hesitated to prove theorems more than once, with different points of view and arguments. Similarly, I often prove weaker versions of a result and then follow with the stronger version (instead of just subsuming the former result under the latter). The variety of levels, ideas, and approaches is a hallmark of mathematics; and an introductory treatment should display this variety as part of the development of broad technique and as part of the aesthetic appreciation of the mathematical endeavor.