Coined by Listing from Greek topos 'place' + -logia 'study,' the branch of math where a donut and a coffee mug are identical.
The mathematical study of properties preserved under continuous deformations such as stretching and bending, but not tearing or gluing.
Coined by German mathematician Johann Benedict Listing in 1847 from Greek topos 'place' + -logia 'study of.' Listing introduced it as an alternative to Leibniz's term 'geometria situs' (geometry of position). Euler's 1736 solution to the Königsberg bridge problem is considered the first result in topology. Key roots