Abstract Algebra and Solution by Radicals

That sounds heavy but the remarkable thing is anyone who has taken grade 12 math should be able to follow it (with a bit of work) and anyone who has done first year algebra or calculus should be able to follow it all.

Very discursive, with a lot of sentences not just symbols to explain the ideas, and a lot of examples. Nice physical layout too.

A hard core math text written for non-mathematicians, and it succeeds. I also highly recommend it to anyone encountering groups or Galois theory for the first time.


Roots (as in square roots)   July 30, 2002
John Landon (NYC, NY United States)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This charming little introit to abstract algebra is keyed on a theme of the algebraic equation, and the discovery of the insolubility of the quintic. This includes the history and final plight of the circle-squarers, and some of the history of Galois and Abel, working heroically and heuristically in the early nineteenth century without the recent easier access to the subject now available.
All math is divided into three parts, analysis, algebra, and topology and abstract algebra is no doubt abstract, but less so than analysis, and shows the beautiful hidden sructure behind number systems, from monkey-see monkey-do to counting on your fingers, to the square root of minus one and beyond. The progression from simple groups, to rings, and fields and the rest is a revelation of the complexity behind simple things and it is a pity the educational system cannot bring more to these vistas, where the elegant Galois theory caps the summits. A good book to amateurize with, and with a good mouse-hole entry for a look-see to the ultra-clever Galois theory. Superb.


Excellent text for a first course   March 3, 2006
Mike (Maryland)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I taught out of the hardcover version of this book at SUNY College at Oneonta many moons ago. It was a course for first-semester sophomore mathematics majors. The goal of the book is to develop the subject matter that is needed to prove that the fifth degree polynomial is not solvable by radicals, i.e. there is no analogy to the Quadratic Formula for the quintic. (There is for the cubic and the quartic.) We had a good time because the course was focused on this one goal and the class knew exacly where we were headed. We got there, too. It was very easy to teach from this book and students rated it very highly. The students that I taught had Calculus I and II and a Foundations course as freshmen. The prior exposure to logic, sets and methods of proof (development of the integers) was very helpful, as was the maturity gained from the calculus (although the subject matter of Calculus was not necessary). I supplemented by rigorously developing the rational numbers, saving the reals for the Intro to Analysis course that followed this one. I am now a biostatistician outside of academia, but I hope that professors who are now teaching Abstract (Modern) Algebra will consider using this text in paperback form.


great text   April 4, 2000
skeezer (Salem, Massachusetts)
3 out of 11 found this review helpful

There is a lot of good information here and a lot of good exercises. And at a great price, I highly recommend this little book.


exelent book   September 14, 2007
Mike Bauer (Canada)
This book in an excellent choice. Well written not complicated lingo, and for visual learners the diagrams are intelligently selected. Very good introduction to group theory, with many examples. I am a computer programmer so I did not want a book with pure math and this book uses everyday examples to make a point.