Supplements for

Experiencing Geometry in Euclidean, Spherical, and Hyperbolic Spaces, Second Edition, 2001

David W. Henderson, Cornell University

contributor Daina Taimina

SHAPE OF SPACE -- latest news:

Boomerang "proof" that the universe is flat:

I have read the following articles that announced the measurements and they do NOT claim that their data proves that the universe is flat. In fact, they say their result "is consistent with a flat, euclidean (sic) Universe." But, their data is not entirely consistent with any known theories (especially the so-called inflationary model) that would explain a flat universe. In fact, their graphs show that their data is also consistent with spherical and hyperbolic geometry.

• Science News, 2/12/2000.
• BBC NEWS, 4/26/00.
• editorial and article in Nature, volume 404, April 2000

NASA changes the launch date for MAP from fall 2000 to April, 2001:

See, http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ .

SHAPE OF SPACE -- references:

Articles:

• For further discussion of determining the shape of space from the measurements of the cosmic background radiation see:
  Luminet, Starkman, and Weeks, "Is Space Finite?", Scientific American, April 1999, page 90; or
  Cornish and Weeks, "Measuring the Shape of the Universe,"

Websites:

• For details of 1989-1991 mission and the map of the cosmic background found by COBE, see http://space.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/cobe/cobe_home.html
• In April 2001 the USA's National Aeronautic and Space Administration plans to launch the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP). See http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ for more information.
• In 2007, the European Space Agency is scheduled to launch the Planck satellite. See http://astro.estec.esa.nl/SA-general/Projects/Planck/planck.html for more information.

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