The theory of toric varieties, which are also called torus embeddings, relates algebraic geometry to the geometry of convex figures in real affine spaces. Ever since
the foundation of the theory was laid down at the beginning of the 1970's,
tremendous progress has been made and various interesting applications have been
found. This book tries to explain in unified form as many results as possible
obtained so far on toric varieties.
This book is also meant to serve as an accessible introduction to algebraic
geometry. Thanks to the many good textbooks now available, algebraic geometry
seems to have become much more accessible than it was twenty years ago.
Beginners, however, have to learn so many basic concepts. It may not be easy for
them to learn many general theorems, get accustomed to them and then apply them
effectively.