Learning Modern Algebra

A guide to modern algebra for mathematics teachers. It makes explicit connections between abstract algebra and high-school mathematics.

This book is the second part of the new edition of Advanced Modern Algebra (the first part published as Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Volume 165). Compared to the previous edition, the material has been significantly reorganized and many sections have been rewritten. The book presents many topics mentioned in the first part in greater depth and in more detail. The five chapters of the book are devoted to group theory, representation theory, homological algebra, categories, and commutative algebra, respectively. The book can be used as a text for a second abstract algebra graduate course, as a source of additional material to a first abstract algebra graduate course, or for self-study.

Accessible but rigorous, this outstanding text encompasses all of the topics covered by a typical course in elementary abstract algebra. Its easy-to-read treatment offers an intuitive approach, featuring informal discussions followed by thematically arranged exercises. This second edition features additional exercises to improve student familiarity with applications. 1990 edition.

This new edition is intended for the undergraduate one or two semester course in modern algebra, also called abstract algebra. It follows that basic plan, using the axioms or rules to understand structures such as groups, rings, and fields, and giving the reader examples to help, but leaving many theorems and examples for them to try. The unique feature of the text is the list of "projects" at the end of each chapter that can be used in the classroom (with students solving them), alone, or in groups with the aid of an instructor. Because of their interactive nature, the projects are designed to understand concepts or to lead the student to new ideas they will encounter later. Features: * Features a logic-based presentation, with the structures of groups, rings, and fields presented in similar ways through objects, sub-objects, mappings between objects, and quotients of objects * Follows a fairly straight path without many of the side areas, such as modules, in order to introduce Galois Theory and solvability of polynomials * Provides numerous examples, additional exercises and the inclusion of "projects" in each chapter * Instructor's resources available upon adoption

ELEMENTS OF MODERN ALGEBRA, 7e, INTERNATIONAL EDITION with its user-friendly format, provides you with the tools you need to get succeed in abstract algebra and develop mathematical maturity as a bridge to higher-level mathematics courses.. Strategy boxes give you guidance and explanations about techniques and enable you to become more proficient at constructing proofs. A summary of key words and phrases at the end of each chapter help you master the material. A reference section, symbolic marginal notes, an appendix, and numerous examples help you develop your problem solving skills.

Algebra: Chapter 0 is a self-contained introduction to the main topics of algebra, suitable for a first sequence on the subject at the beginning graduate or upper undergraduate level. The primary distinguishing feature of the book, compared to standard textbooks in algebra, is the early introduction of categories, used as a unifying theme in the presentation of the main topics. A second feature consists of an emphasis on homological algebra: basic notions on complexes are presented as soon as modules have been introduced, and an extensive last chapter on homological algebra can form the basis for a follow-up introductory course on the subject. Approximately 1,000 exercises both provide adequate practice to consolidate the understanding of the main body of the text and offer the opportunity to explore many other topics, including applications to number theory and algebraic geometry. This will allow instructors to adapt the textbook to their specific choice of topics and provide the independent reader with a richer exposure to algebra. Many exercises include substantial hints, and navigation of the topics is facilitated by an extensive index and by hundreds of cross-references.

Praise for the First Edition "Stahl offers the solvability of equations from the historicalpoint of view...one of the best books available to support aone-semester introduction to abstract algebra." —CHOICE Introductory Modern Algebra: A Historical Approach, SecondEdition presents the evolution of algebra and provides readerswith the opportunity to view modern algebra as a consistentmovement from concrete problems to abstract principles. With a fewpertinent excerpts from the writings of some of the greatestmathematicians, the Second Edition uniquely facilitates theunderstanding of pivotal algebraic ideas. The author provides a clear, precise, and accessibleintroduction to modern algebra and also helps to develop a moreimmediate and well-grounded understanding of how equations lead topermutation groups and what those groups can inform us about suchdiverse items as multivariate functions and the 15-puzzle.Featuring new sections on topics such as group homomorphisms, theRSA algorithm, complex conjugation, the factorization of realpolynomials, and the fundamental theorem of algebra, the SecondEdition also includes: An in-depth explanation of the principles and practices ofmodern algebra in terms of the historical development from theRenaissance solution of the cubic equation to Dedekind'sideals Historical discussions integrated with the development ofmodern and abstract algebra in addition to many new explicitstatements of theorems, definitions, and terminology A new appendix on logic and proofs, sets, functions, andequivalence relations Over 1,000 new examples and multi-level exercises at the end ofeach section and chapter as well as updated chapter summaries Introductory Modern Algebra: A Historical Approach, SecondEdition is an excellent textbook for upper-undergraduatecourses in modern and abstract algebra.

"Learning Modern Algebra is designed for college students who want to teach mathematics in high school, but it can serve as a text for standard abstract algebra courses as well. [...] The presentation is organized historically: the Babylonians introduced Pythagorean triples to teach the Pythagorean theorem; these were classified by Diophantus, and eventually this led Fermat to conjecture his Last Theorem."--Publisher description.