This approach to Morse theory was known in some form to René Thom and Stephen Smale, and implicit in John Milnor's book on the h-cobordism theorem.
This approach to Morse theory was known in some form to René Thom. This approach to Morse theory was known in some form to Stephen Smale. This approach to Morse theory was implicit in John Milnor's book on the h-cobordism theorem.