Stable Algebraic Topology, 1945–1966

1. Setting up the foundations 3 2. The Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms 4 3. Stable and unstable homotopy groups 5 4. Spectral sequences and calculations in homology and homotopy 6 5. Steenrod operations, K(π, n)’s, and characteristic classes 8 6. The introduction of cobordism 10 7. The route from cobordism towards K-theory 12 8. Bott periodicity and K-theory 14 9. The Adams spectral sequence and Hopf invariant one 15 10. S-duality and the introduction of spectra 18 11. Oriented cobordism and complex cobordism 21 12. K-theory, cohomology, and characteristic classes 23 13. Generalized homology and cohomology theories 25 14. Vector fields on spheres and J(X) 28 15. Further applications and refinements of K-theory 31 16. Bordism and cobordism theories 34 17. Further work on cobordism and its relation to K-theory 37 18. High dimensional geometric topology 40 19. Iterated loop space theory 42 20. Algebraic K-theory and homotopical algebra 43 21. The stable homotopy category 45 References 50