Definition of algebraic topology
: a branch of mathematics that focuses on the application of techniques from abstract algebra to problems of topology
- In the past fifteen years, knot theory has unexpectedly expanded in scope and usefulness. It had been an interesting application of algebraic topology since the 1900s and a pastime for those folks with a categorizing bent who would sort knots before that.
- —Michael McDaniel, Math Horizons, November 2003
