jar7709's review against another edition
3.0
I want to crochet a hyperbolic plane! So, I ordered this book in the hopes it would help in that quest, as well as give some background and an increased understanding of the relevant mathematics. Mission sort-of accomplished. Yes, there are instructions for crocheting your own example, and yes there's a fair amount of history, but still this book was not quite what I was expecting. The instructions are not written for the basic-knowlege crocheter and are not set out as clearly as I am used to seeing in "project" books. Turns out, this is not a project book...more a ramble of thoughts by the author, a mathematician who came into fiber arts fame through the back door, in a way. It shows. I think this book would have benefited greatly by having a co-author, someone who came out of the fiber art instruction world and could have helped to include more novice - friendly patterning and discussion.
I'm still going to try to make my own hyperbolic plane example, though. I'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm still going to try to make my own hyperbolic plane example, though. I'll let you know how it turns out.
christinaestrup's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting, but I didn't quite have the math skills to follow all of it.
srtokes's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The sheer amount of excitement and happiness it's brought me is immeasurable. I absolutely adore topology, and I'd already dabbled in some hyperbolic crochet before putting this book on my christmas list, but I found all of the various chapters (ranging from the history of geometric art, to the basics of topology) really interesting. This book also introduced me the the concept of Seifert Surfaces, and I was able to figure out how to make one for Borromean rings (highly recommend).
Having said that, if you are not the target audience (ie- both a maths nerd, and a crochet nerd)- it probably won't be so fun. I loved the book because I already adored the topics it covered, and if I am completely honest I would have a wonderful time reading anything tangentially related. But as an introduction, for somebody only interested in one (or neither) out of crochet and topology, I don't think this would be as exciting.
Having said that, if you are not the target audience (ie- both a maths nerd, and a crochet nerd)- it probably won't be so fun. I loved the book because I already adored the topics it covered, and if I am completely honest I would have a wonderful time reading anything tangentially related. But as an introduction, for somebody only interested in one (or neither) out of crochet and topology, I don't think this would be as exciting.
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