This book consists of 16 surveys on Thurston's work and its later development. The authors are mathematicians who were strongly influenced by Thurston's publications and ideas. The subjects discussed include, among others, knot theory, the topology of 3-manifolds, circle packings, complex projective structures, hyperbolic geometry, Kleinian groups, foliations, mapping class groups, Teichmüller theory, anti-de Sitter geometry, and co-Minkowski geometry. The book is addressed to researchers and students who want to learn about Thurston’s wide-ranging mathematical ideas and their impact. At the same time, it is a tribute to Thurston, one of the greatest geometers of all time, whose work extended over many fields in mathematics and who had a unique way of perceiving forms and patterns, and of communicating and writing mathematics.

The purpose of this volume and of the other volumes in the same series is to provide a collection of surveys that allows the reader to learn the important aspects of William Thurston’s heritage. Thurston’s ideas have altered the course of twentieth century mathematics, and they continue to have a significant influence on succeeding generations of mathematicians. The topics covered in the present volume include com-plex hyperbolic Kleinian groups, Möbius structures, hyperbolic ends, cone 3-manifolds, Thurston’s norm, surgeries in representation varieties, triangulations, spaces of polygo-nal decompositions and of singular flat structures on surfaces, combination theorems in the theories of Kleinian groups, hyperbolic groups and holomorphic dynamics, the dynamics and iteration of rational maps, automatic groups, and the combinatorics of right-angled Artin groups.

Here is the seminal biography of the magician's magician, Howard Thurston, a man who surpassed Houdini in the eyes of showmen and fans and set the standard fro how stage magic is performed today. Everyone knows Houdini-but who was Thurston? In this rich, vivid biography of the "greatest magician in the world," celebrated historian of stage magic Jim Steinmeyer captures the career and controversies of the wonder-worker extraordinaire, Howard Thurston. The public's fickleness over magicians has left Thurston all but forgotten today. Yet Steinmeyer shows how his story is one of the most remarkable in show business. During his life, from 1869 to 1936, Thurston successfully navigated the most dramatic changes in entertainment-from street performances to sideshows to wagon tours through America's still-wild West to stage magic amid the glitter of grand theaters. Thurston became one of America's most renowned vaudeville stars, boldly performing an act with just a handful of playing cards, and then had the foresight to leave vaudeville, expanding his show into an extravaganza with more than forty tons of apparatusand costumes. His touring production was an American institution for nearly thirty years, and Thurston earned a brand name equal to Ziegfeld or Ringling Brothers. Steinmeyer explores the stage and psychological rivalry between Thurston and Houdini during the first decades of the twentieth century- a contest that Thurston won. He won with a bigger show, a more successful reputation, and the title of America's greatest magician. In The Last Greatest Magician in the World, Thurston's magic show is revealed as the one that animates our collective memories.

2009 Catholic Press Association Award Winner To read the Gospel of Mark is to embark on a journey that begins in a desert and ends with a boulder rolled away from the tomb. In between, Jesus teaches his disciples, calls them to journey and learn what it means to follow him, and guides them to Jerusalem, the scene of the Passion. In The Spiritual Landscape of Mark, Bonnie Thurston has adapted a retreat that she gave to the Society of the Sacred Cross at Tymawr Convent in Wales, thereby inviting all of us to embark on this spiritual journey. Mark's gospel is full of places' desert, house, sea, valley, mountain, city, cross, garden and the winding roads between them. Thurston's prose invites us to go away to a quiet place and reflect awhile on what it means to be Jesus's disciple, to follow him across the hard landscape. Along the way there will be glimpses of his glory when he stills the storm and is transfigured on the mountain, when he heals the sick and feeds the hungry. Still, the primary lesson is the difficult way to which we are called, along with the great joy of knowing that Jesus has initiated the journey and leads us exactly where we need to go. Bonnie B. Thurston, PhD, lives in West Virginia in solitude. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the author of several books, including Philippians in the Sacra Pagina series and Religious Vows, the Sermon on the Mount, and Christian Living (Liturgical Press), and Preaching Mark (Fortress Press).

The purpose of this volume and of the other volumes in the same series is to provide a collection of surveys that allows the reader to learn the important aspects of William Thurstons heritage. Thurstons ideas have altered the course of twentieth century mathematics, and they continue to have a significant influence on succeeding generations of mathematicians. The topics covered in the present volume include com-plex hyperbolic Kleinian groups, Mobius structures, hyperbolic ends, cone 3-manifolds, Thurstons norm, surgeries in representation varieties, triangulations, spaces of polygo-nal decompositions and of singular flat structures on surfaces, combination theorems in the theories of Kleinian groups, hyperbolic groups and holomorphic dynamics, the dynamics and iteration of rational maps, automatic groups, and the combinatorics of right-angled Artin groups.