Recent success with the four-dimensional Poincare conjecture has revived interest in low-dimensional topology, especially the three-dimensional Poincare conjecture and other aspects of the problems of classifying three-dimensional manifolds. These problems have a driving force, and have generated a great body of research, as well as insight.

The main topics treated in this book include a paper by V Poenaru on the Poincare conjecture and its ramifications, giving an insight into the herculean work of the author on the subject. Steve Armentrout's paper on "Bing's dogbone space" belongs to the...