Igor V. Dolgachev - Böcker

The 20th century saw the development of many of the key concepts and theories in algebraic geometry. However, the evolution of style and approach over time has rendered the original texts challenging for modern readers to decipher. Bridging the gap between classical and modern algebraic geometry, this book explains classical results using modern tools and language. The second edition has undergone significant expansion. This second volume includes new chapters on quartic surfaces, and on the theory of congruences of lines, the first known modern treatment of the work of E. Kummer and R. Sturm. Furthermore, the expanded bibliography now encompasses over 800 references, including references to results obtained in the 12 years since the publication of the first edition. This carefully crafted reference will continue to keep classical algebraic geometry results alive and accessible to new generations of graduate students and researchers today.

The 20th century saw the development of many of the key concepts and theories in algebraic geometry. However, the evolution of style and approach over time has rendered the original texts challenging for modern readers to decipher. Bridging the gap between classical and modern algebraic geometry, this book explains classical results using modern tools and language. The second edition has undergone significant expansion. This first volume includes an extensive look at the enumerative geometry of quadrics and a more in-depth exploration of Cremona transformations, featuring more examples of different types. Furthermore, the expanded bibliography now encompasses over 800 references, including references to results obtained in the twelve years since the publication of the first edition. This carefully crafted reference will continue to keep classical algebraic geometry results alive and accessible to new generations of graduate students and researchers today.

Algebraic geometry has benefited enormously from the powerful general machinery developed in the latter half of the twentieth century. The cost has been that much of the research of previous generations is in a language unintelligible to modern workers, in particular, the rich legacy of classical algebraic geometry, such as plane algebraic curves of low degree, special algebraic surfaces, theta functions, Cremona transformations, the theory of apolarity and the geometry of lines in projective spaces. The author's contemporary approach makes this legacy accessible to modern algebraic geometers and to others who are interested in applying classical results. The vast bibliography of over 600 references is complemented by an array of exercises that extend or exemplify results given in the book.