Some suggestions for reading about knots and linksComment: This is a ‘getting started’ list. The references below all have their own refer-ences, that will take you in many directions.1. Readings for the non-specialist(a) Hoste, Thistlethwaite and Weeks, The First 1,701,936 Knots, Scientific Ameri-can, 20, No. 4, 1998. A delightful article which conveys much about the state ofknowledge in 1999 about knot classification, by describing how the three authorsaccomplished their enormous task of classifying knots up to 16 crossings.(b) Artin, E., The Theory of Braids, American Scientist,38, 1950,, pp. 112-119.A delightful and very accessible article on an aspect of knot theory which hasbecome very important in all areas of mathematics. Passages from this articlewere used in the GRE exams in the mid 1950’s! Directed at an audience ofnon-mathematicians.(c) Lickorish and Millett, The New Polynomial Invariant of Knots and Links , Math-ematics Magazine, 61, No. 1, February 1988. The authors were awarded theChauvenet Prize for ”Expository Writing” by the MAA, for this article. It’s ata level which is accessible to bright high scho ol students.(d) Livingston, Knot Theory, MAA Carus Monographs No. 24, 1993. A survey,directed at mathematicians with backgrounds in other areas. Not a textbook.Clear, and a good guide to further reading.(e) Kauffman, L. States Models and the Jones Polynomial, Topology, 26, 1987,395-407. An important research article which can be read with a minimum ofbackground in the subject.(f) Sumners, D.W. The Role of Knot Theory in DNA Research, 297-317, Geome-try and Topology, Editors McCrory and Shifrin, Marcel Decker 1987. A talkgiven to a group of mathematicians at a recent conference, to tell them aboutproblems which are of interest to biologists. It contains a useful ”dictionary” totranslate the lingo of chemistry and biology into mathematical terms. It alsohas references, if you want to learn more about the biology.2. Readings for Mathematics graduate students or upper level undergrads(a) Rolfsen, D. Knots and Links, Publish or Perish, 1978. A graduate textbook onknot theory, out of date, but excellent.(b) Hempel, John 3-manifolds, Annals of Math Studies #86, Princeton UniversityPress 1976. Very basic stuff.(c) Prasolov, V.V. and Sossinsky, A.B. Knots, L inks, Braids and 3-manifolds, AMSTranslations of Mathematical Monographs 154, 1996.1(d) Saveliev, Nikolai, Lectures on the topology of 3-manifolds: an introduction tothe Casson invariant, deGruyter 1996.(e) Manturov, Vassily, Knot Theory, Chapman and Hall 2004.(f) Scott, Peter, The Geometry of 3-Manifolds, Bull. London Math. Soc. 15, 1983,401-487.(g) Birman, J.S. New points of view in knot and link theory, Bull. AMS APRIL1993, A survey article on the state of the art as regards finite typ e invariants,in 1993. Directed at an audience of graduate students and research mathemati-cians. Won the Chauvenet