This book is a study of how a particular vision of the unity of
mathematics, often called geometric function theory, was created in the
19th century. The central focus is on the convergence of three
mathematical topics: the hypergeometric and related linear differential
equations, group theory, and on-Euclidean geometry. The text for this
second edition has been greatly expanded and revised, and the existing
appendices enriched. The exercises have been retained, making it
possible to use the book as a companion to mathematics courses at the
graduate level.