Curvature, in all of its aspects is at the core of geometry. Going straight is central to geometry, but it is also a fiction, since we live in a curved world with gravitational attraction in landscapes of mountains, valleys and planes. Nevertheless it is a very useful fiction, and the basis of Euclidean geometry and our science. How then to define being curved, intrinsically and/or as a deviation from planarity? This is one of the central questions in mathematics and geometry; we have derived Euclidean geometry, one geometry that is in accordance with our intuition and our position on earth (with its gravitational field).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-151-2_9
Publish Year: 2017
