What is Topology?

Photo by Fahim mohammed on Unsplash

Of course, when asked what I do, I say I am a mathematician. If the other person has a slight interest in science (or just for the sake of it), their second question is which branch of mathematics I work in. When I answered as topology, I saw the question mark that appeared on the person’s face in front of me.

Topology is a branch of mathematics and is not synonymous with topography as one might think. Topography describes the…