Algebraic Topology

What's in the Book? To get an idea you can look at the Table of Contents and the Preface.

Printed Version: The book was published by Cambridge University Press in 2002 in both paperback and hardback editions, but only the paperback version is currently available (ISBN 0-521-79540-0). This is now in a seventh printing. Each printing contains corrections of various minor errors not yet weeded out from the earlier printings -- see farther down this page for a list of corrections. I have tried very hard to keep the price of the paperback version as low as possible, but it is gradually creeping upward and is now $34 in the US. Less expensive printings have been made for sale in China (Tsinghua University Press) and South Asia. A translation into Russian is underway.

Electronic Version: By special arrangement with the publisher, an online version will continue to be available for free download here, subject to the terms in the copyright notice. There are several different formats available:

• The whole book as a single rather large pdf file (3.5MB) of about 550 pages.
• Doublepage version with two pages side by side, reduced in size so that they fit on one sheet of paper.
• Individual chapters can be downloaded as separate pdf files.

Corrections: I am trying to keep an up-to-date list of corrections for all the errors, typographical and otherwise, that I am aware of. There are three lists, each being a subset of the previous one:

• Cumulative list of corrections. This covers all printings to date. Also available in pdf form.
• Corrections to the third printing, January 2003.
• Corrections to the seventh printing, 2006.

My sincere thanks to all the people who have sent me corrections.

The electronic version of the book is kept up to date to include the corrections as they come to light. It also contains a few small revisions that I couldn't resist making. In particular the electronic file for Chapter 2 includes an improved definition of Delta complexes that first appears in the fourth printing (mid 2006) of the paper version. This is also available as a separate file here. None of these corrections and revisions involve renumbering of pages, theorems, or exercises.

Revisions and Additions: At some future date there may be a more extensively revised edition incorporating various improvements that are posted on the Revisions and Additions page. Also available are some additional exercises.

The Exercises: I have not written up solutions to the exercises. The main reason for this is that the book is used as a textbook at a number of universities where the problem sets count for part of a student's grade.

Typography: Some comments on how the book was made to look the way it does can be found here.