MA 564 A1 — Spring 2015
Introduction to Topology

• Solutions to the first midterm are available here.

Syllabus

• A complete syllabus can be download here in pdf format.

• Late homeworks will not be accepted, but your bottom two homework grades will be dropped.
• You are encourage to work together on problem sets. However, each student must write-up their own problem sets in their own words, notation, etc.

In this course, we will be using two main sources (listed above). The textbook of Gamelin and Greene is a short dense book that gets to core concepts very quickly. The online notes of Freiwald are much longer and include many many examples. I plan to move back and forth between the two references throughout the semester. A tentative plan for the course is to cover G&G (Chapters 1-3) and Freiwald (Chapters 2-6).

Course grading

Your final grade will be computed using the following breakdown:

• Homework: 30%
• Large quiz: 10%
• Midterm: 25%
• Final: 30%
• Class participation: 5%

Outside help

• You are very much encouraged to attend my office hours posted above.
• In MCS B24 at most times during working hours, there are math graduate students on duty to answer questions from any class. This is a fantastic resource that is available all week long.

Miscellaneous Items of Interest

• Make-up exams are only given in the case of serious illness.
• Incompletes are rarely given and only for extreme situations.

Given the sterling qualities of character to be found in each and every student at Boston University, it is certainly unnecessary to mention that plagiarism and cheating are not only dishonest and immoral, but are also against the policies of Boston University. Please keep in mind that, in the highly unlikely event that you do choose to plagiarize or cheat, you will be referred immediately to the University Academic Standards Committee for disciplinary action. For details see: http://www.bu.edu/academics/files/2011/08/AcademicConductCode.pdf.