Table of Contents

Prerequisites Chapter 1. Knots and Knot Types Chapter 2. The Fundamental Group Chapter 3. The Free Groups Chapter 4. Presentation of Groups Chapter 5. Calculation of Fundamental Groups Chapter 6. Presentation of a Knot Group Chapter 7. The Free Calculus and the Elementary Ideals Chapter 8. The Knot Polynomials Chapter 9. Characteristic Properties of the Knot Polynomials Appendix I. Differentiable Knots are Tame Appendix II. Categories and groupoids Appendix III. Proof of the van Kampen theorem Guide to the Literature Bibliography Index

About the Author

A topologist and the world's foremost knot theorist, the late Ralph H. Fox was on the faculty at Princeton University. The late Richard H. Crowell was a Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College.