With firm foundations dating only from the 1950s, algebraic topology is a relatively young area of mathematics. This title addresses the course material, such as fundamental groups, covering spaces, the basics of homotopy theory, and homology and cohomology. It covers topics that are useful for algebraic topologists.

J. P. May is professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago; he is the author or coauthor of many papers and books, including Simplicial Objects in Algebraic Topology and A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology, both in the Chicago Lectures in Mathematics series.