In the first chapter the reader gets a taste of differentiable manifolds and Lie groups, the later gving rise to a discussion of Lie algebras by considering, as usual, the tangent space at the identity of the Lie group. Projective space is shown to be a manifold and the transition functions explicitly written down. The authors give a neat example of a Lie group that is not a matrix group. A rather quick introduction to complex manifolds and Riemann surfaces is given, perhaps too quick for the reader requiring more details. Homogeneous and symmetric spaces are also discussed, and the authors plunge right into the theory of vector bundles on manifolds. Thus there is a lot packed into this chapter, and the authors should have considered spreading out the discussion more, as it leaves the reader wanting for more detail.
The authors consider more fundamental questions in smooth manifolds in chapter 3, with partitions of unity used to prove the existence of Riemannian metrics and connections on manifolds. They also prove Stokes formula, and prove the existence of a smooth embedding of any compact manifold into Euclidean space of dimension 2n + 1. Properties of smooth maps, such as the ability to approximate a continuous mapping by a smooth mapping, are also discussed. A proof of Sard's theorem is given, thus enabling the study of singularities of a mapping. The reader does get a taste of Morse theory here also, along with transversality, and thus a look at some elementary notions of differential topology. An interesting discussion is given on how to obtain Morse functions on smooth manifolds by using focal points.
Notions of homotopy are introduced in chapter 3, along with more concepts from differential topology, such as the degree of a map. A very interesting discussion is given on the relation between the Whitney number of a plane closed curve and the degree of the Gauss map. This leads to a proof of the important Gauss-Bonnet theorem. Degree theory is also applied to vector fields and then to an application for differential equations, namely the Poincare-Bendixson theorem. The index theory of vector fields is also shown to lead to the Hopf result on the Euler characteristic of a closed orientable surface and to the Brouwer fixed-point theorem.
Chapter 4 considers the orientability of manifolds, with the authors showing how orientation can be transported along a path, thus giving a non-traditional characterization as to when a connected manifold is orientable, namely if this transport around any closed path preserves the orientation class. More homotopy theory, via the fundamental group, is also discussed, with a few examples being computed and the connection of the fundamental group with orientability. It is shown that the fundamental group of a non-orientable manifold is homomorphic onto the cyclic group of order 2. Fiber bundles with discrete fiber, also known as covering spaces, are also discussed, along with their connections to the theory of Riemann surfaces via branched coverings. The authors show the utility of covering maps in the calculation of the fundamental group, and use this connection to introduce homology groups. A very detailed discussion of the action of the discrete group on the Lobachevskian plane is given.
Absolute and relative homotopy groups are introduced in chapter 5, and many examples are given of their calculation. The idea of a covering homotopy leads to a discussion of fiber spaces. The most interesting discussion in this chapter is the one on Whitehead multiplication, as this is usually not covered in introductory books such as this one, and since it has become important in physics applications. The authors do take a stab at the problem of computing homotopy groups of spheres, and the discussion is a bit unorthodox since it depends on using framed normal bundles.
The theory of smooth fiber bundles is considered in the next chapter. The physicist reader should pay close attention to this chapter is it gives many insights into the homotopy theory of fiber bundles that cannot be found in the usual books on the subject. The discussion of the classification theory of fiber bundles is very dense but worth the time reading. Interestingly, the authors include a discussion of the Picard-Lefschetz formula, as an example of a class of "fiber bundles with singularities". Those interested in the geometry of gauge field theories will appreciate the discussion on the differential geometry of fiber bundles.
Dynamical systems are introduced in chapter 7, first as defined over manifolds, and then in the context of symplectic manifolds via Hamaltonian mechanics. Liouville's theorem is proven, and a few examples are given from relativistic point mechanics. The theory of foliations is also discussed, although the discussion is too brief to be of much use. The authors also consider variational problems, and given its importance in physics, they continue the treatment in the last chapter of the book, giving several examples in general relativity, and in gauge theory via a consideration of the vacuum solutions of the Yang-Mills equation. The physicist reader will appreciate this discussion of the classical theory of gauge fields, as it is good preparation for further reading on instantons and the eventual quantization of gauge fields.