Topology Prerequisites for Algebraic Topology

Note: There is another question of the same title, but it is different and asks for group theory prerequisites in algebraic topology, while i want the topology prerequisites.

I am a physics undergrad, and I wish to take up a course on Introduction to Algebraic Topology for the next sem, which basically teaches the first two chapters of Hatcher, on Fundamental Group and Homology. However, I don't have a formal mathematics background in point-set topology, and I don't have enough time to go though whole books such as Munkres. So What part of point set topology from Munkres is actually used in the first two chapters of Hatcher?

More importantly, I wanted to know if the first chapter of the book Topology, Geometry and Gauge Fields by Naber or first 2 chapters of Lee's Topological Manifolds would be sufficient to provide me the necessary background for Hatcher.

Thanks in advance!

Chapter 1 of Hatcher corresponds to chapter 9 of Munkres. These topology video lectures (syllabus here) do chapters 2, 3 & 4 (topological space in terms of open sets, relating this to neighbourhoods, closed sets, limit points, interior, exterior, closure, boundary, denseness, base, subbase, constructions [subspace, product space, quotient space], continuity, connectedness, compactness, metric spaces, countability & separation) of Munkres before going on to do 9 straight away so you could take this as a guide to what you need to know from Munkres before doing Hatcher, however if you actually look at the subject you'll see chapter 4 of Munkres (questions of countability, separability, regularity & normality of spaces etc...) don't really appear in Hatcher apart from things on Hausdorff spaces which appear only as part of some exercises or in a few concepts tied up with manifolds (in other words, these concepts may be being implicitly assumed). Thus basing our judgement off of this we see that the first chapter of Naber is sufficient on these grounds... However you'd need the first 4 chapters of Lee's book to get this material in, & then skip to chapter 7 (with 5 & 6 of Lee relating to chapter 2 of Hatcher).

There's a crazy amount of abstract algebra involved in this subject (an introduction to which you'll find after lecture 25 in here) so I'd be equally worried about that if I didn't know much algebra.

These video lectures (syllabus here) follow Hatcher & I found the very little I've seen useful mainly for the motivation the guy gives. If you download the files & use a program like IrfanView to view the pictures as you watch the video on vlc player or whatever it's much more bearable since you can freeze the position of the screen on the board as you scroll through 200 + pictures.

I wouldn't recommend you treat point set topology as something one could just rush through, I did & suffered very badly for it...

For sure you'll need continuous functions, homeomorphisms, connectedness, compactness, coverings and many others.

I prefer Munkres over all topology books.

You might starting with Munkres chapter 2, then read chapters 3, 4, 7 (without " * " sections), but if you have enought time is not bad idea reading all of the first part: Chapters 1-8 (long but fun).

I think that chapter 1 is good for you, is an intuitive approach for set-theory, since you are a physicist probably not like going too deeply into sets, but if you dont have time, skip it.

But my biggest advice is not worry about taking the course as quickly, if you don't feel safe. I was physicist.