Request for Book Recommendations:
Background introduction
Disclaimers: If the tone below is a little arrogant I apologize beforehand, but I'm being very specific here because I want to make
sure that I will be learning and accessing the right material, and
also that which is more tailored to my interests
So this is the first time I'm using the forum here to ask a question, although I've visited this site a couple of times already. But I do notice similar sounding questions have been asked several times, so I want to be highly specific so as to separate this question from other similar questions, so that it does not get tagged as a duplicate or lacks specificity to the point it is vague. What I want is a personalized recommendation, (not a generalized recommendation), tailored to my level of knowledge and interest.
First off, I am an incoming freshman going to college, and am majoring in physics, however I am interested in eventually double majoring in mathematics as well, and one area of mathematics I would really like to choose as an area of study is geometry.
Specifically, I'm searching for a recommendation in Euclidean geometry/Non-Euclidean Geometry, whether it is a book, a pdf, or a website tutorial. I do not want an book with an axiomatic treatment style for right now. It would be highly helpful if the book were more problem oriented, teaching specific techniques in solving geometry problems That being said, the book should not just be a collection of problems without any exposition or explanations. Hopefully the book contains a complete treatise that connects concepts and techniques, while also managing workable problems
Preferred style and difficulty of the material
For example, some geometric techniques I want to learn about include homotheties, spiral similarity, inversion, projective transformations(I know this lies out the scope somewhat), complete quadrilaterals.
There's much more, but in general I want a somewhat comprehensive, encyclopedic text on the different theorems and techniques(without being pedantic and overtly wordy, and having enough exercises)
For reference two books whose chapters catalog and encompass what I am looking for, but are inaccessible for my current level are Evan Chen's "Euclidean Geometry in Mathematical Olympiads",
and Dan Pedoe's "A comprehensive course in geometry". In EGMO, the problems are clearly meant for those who go to IMO and math olympiads, which is not what I'm looking for, while in Dan Pedoe's book, the exercises are scant and few.
A note about the difficulty of the books: The geometry taught in high school is boring, SAT style-dry and does not vary in both concepts and problem type. Obviously I am not asking for a book introducing me to the extreme basics in Euclidean geometry.
That being said, I'm still a novice in comparison to many of the seasoned Geometers out there(or those who have studied geometry in depth)
I have read AOPS Introduction to geometry, which I think is closer to the level I want for getting to solve a variety of geometry problems while also using different techniques, the book's difficulty level is actually quite easy, but then again I don't want an International Mathematical Olympiad difficulty style type of book, but not a book where everything is spoon-fed to you either.
Please do not recommend the following:
BOOKS NOT TO RECOMMEND
I recognize some of the texts included below are good texts in themselves, but for my present purpose, I do not want to get mired in the actual theory behind what a geometry/geometries is, as well as the axiomatic foundations of geometry. I want to learn math, not what the math behind really means at this point.
"Elementary Geometry from an Advanced Standpoint" Edwin Moise
"Advanced Euclidean Geometry" Robert Hartshorne
Euclid's elements(Seriously? Why would anyone recommend this book to a beginner? Just as no-one would recommend Newton's principia to someone who is first learning physics either)
EGMO Evan Chen (See above)
"Geometry-A comprehensive Course" Dan Pedoe
"An Introduction to Geometry" Richard Ruscyzyk (Already read the book, good for beginners but only focuses on some of the more basic techniques)
"Geometry revisited" Coxeter (Too few problems, there is little to be gained from reading it imo)
"Geometry Unbound" Kiran S. Kedlaya
"PROBLEMS IN PLANE AND SOLID GEOMETRY" Viktor Prasolov (This is almost all problems and no exposition at all)
Also-no Olympiad style books, unless the difficulty is manageable.
Further questions
One final question to those who have studied the aforementioned and more in geometry: I do want to eventually learn projective geometry and differential geometry, are there any specific course recommendations, or areas I have to learn first?(With regard to geometry, topology, and abstract algebra, since I have some knowledge of analysis) Thanks-
Best Answer
Not only do I agree with brainjam's suggestion re archive.org, but that suggestion dovetail's into mine. I think that is often challenging to find "just the right book" for you re a specific math topic (e.g. Geometry).
I offer generic suggestions:
This is especially true given the existence of the MathSE forum. For an exercise that you deem valuable that you just can not solve, all you have to do is provide context (i.e. the theorems leading up to the problem) and show your work. Then you will generally get very helpful responses from this site. Given such a crutch, this adds value to a book that has a lot of exercises.
Review queries on this site that are tagged [book-recommendation] and [geometry].
Try to find impartial reviews of a book that you are considering. Personally, I have found Amazon book reviews to be very reliable.
Try to obtain a free copy of the book, either through archive.org (as brainjam suggested) or by googling for a specific title, including the "pdf" suffix. For example, you might google : coxeter geometry pdf. Surprisingly, I have often found (and downloaded) totally free pdf copies of math books that were very highly recommended.
The point here is not to save the cost of one book. Instead, the point is that you may have to try 10 different books before you find the one that best fits your needs. After you find such a book, you might then consider buying the book (even if you already have a free pdf copy). I have found that having a physical copy of the book (either hardback or paperback) is often helpful.