An atlas of graphs. (English) Zbl 0908.05001

Read, Ronald C.; Wilson, Robin J.

Oxford Science Publications. Oxford: Clarendon Press. x, 454 p. (1998).

This book is an amazing work of art by two authors who must be devoted to beauty and symmetry to a degree far beyond most graph theorists. Here are almost 400 pages of diagrams of graphs and special graphs such as trees, regular graphs, self-complementary graphs, planar graphs, snarks, signed graphs, digraphs, tournaments, etc., etc., etc. In all there are pictures of over 10,000 graphs! Each diagram has a serial number. For example, in the section on cubic graphs, C27 is the Petersen graph. Each set of diagrams is followed by a table of values of important parameters. There C27 is listed and one can find its girth, circumference, diameter, connectivity, number of automorphisms, chromatic number, etc., etc., etc.
Within a few days of its arrival, I used my copy several times to check nontrivial properties of all graphs of order 7. I found no errors. My copy doesn’t go on the shelf. It has a front row seat on the real desk top.
On behalf of all who love graph theory, I salute the authors for their remarkable achievement and hope that the CD-ROM will be available some fine day.

Reviewer: E.M.Palmer (East Lansing)

MSC:

05-00	General reference works (handbooks, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc.) pertaining to combinatorics
05Cxx	Graph theory

Software:

nauty