Some mathematical works of considerable vintage have a timeless quality about them. Like classics in any field, they still bring joy and guidance to the reader. Books of this kind, if no longer readily available, are being sought out by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which has begun to publish a series of such classics. The present title is the fourth volume of the series.
A Handbook on Curves and Their Properties was first published in 1952 when the author was teaching at the United States Military Academy at West Point. A photo-lithoprint reproduction was issued in 1959 by Edwards Brothers, Inc., Lithoprinters, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The present reprint edition has been similarly produced, by photo-offset, from a copy of the 1959 edition. Except for providing new front matter, including a biographical sketch of the author and this Foreword by way of explanation, no attempt has been made to modernize the book in any way. To do so would surely detract from, rather than add to, its value.