““Topology is that branch of mathematics which is interested in the forms of things aside from their size and shape, Two things are said to be topologically equivalent if one can be deformed smoothly into the other without sticking, cutting, or puncturing it in any way. Thus an egg is equivalent to a sphere. The first application of topology to an analogous problem-the interaction of atoms rather than elementary particles-was made in the mid-nineteenth century by Lord Kelvin. It has many striking parallels with the aims and attractions of modern string theory.””
![“Probably no branch of mathematics has experienced a more surprising growth than has... topology... Considered as a most specialized and abstract subject in the early 1920's, it is today [1938] an indispensable equipment for the investigation of modern mathematical theories.” quote by Raymond Louis Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f41/raymond-louis-wilder-82780_abstract_probably-no-branch-of-mathematics-has-ex_919488.jpg)
