This book is an informal and readable introduction to higher algebra at the post-calculus level. The concepts of ring and field are introduced through study of the familiar examples of the integers and polynomials. The new examples and theory are built in a well-motivated fashion and made relevant by many applications - to cryptography, coding, integration, history of mathematics, and especially to elementary and computational number theory. The later chapters include expositions of Rabiin's probabilistic primality test, quadratic reciprocity, and the classification of finite fields. Over 900 exercises are found throughout the book.

An informal and readable introduction to higher algebra at the post-calculus level. The concepts of ring and field are introduced through study of the familiar examples of the integers and polynomials, with much emphasis placed on congruence classes leading the way to finite groups and finite fields. New examples and theory are integrated in a well-motivated fashion and made relevant by many applications -- to cryptography, coding, integration, history of mathematics, and especially to elementary and computational number theory. The later chapters include expositions of Rabiin's probabilistic primality test, quadratic reciprocity, and the classification of finite fields. Over 900 exercises, ranging from routine examples to extensions of theory, are scattered throughout the book, with hints and answers for many of them included in an appendix.

This book is written as an introduction to higher algebra for students with a background of a year of calculus. The book developed out of a set of notes for a sophomore-junior level course at the State University of New York at Albany entitled Classical Algebra. In the 1950s and before, it was customary for the first course in algebra to be a course in the theory of equations, consisting of a study of polynomials over the complex, real, and rational numbers, and, to a lesser extent, linear algebra from the point of view of systems of equations. Abstract algebra, that is, the study of groups, rings, and fields, usually followed such a course. In recent years the theory of equations course has disappeared. Without it, students entering abstract algebra courses tend to lack the experience in the algebraic theory of the basic classical examples of the integers and polynomials necessary for understanding, and more importantly, for ap preciating the formalism. To meet this problem, several texts have recently appeared introducing algebra through number theory.

Brief, clear, and well written, this introductory treatment bridges the gap between traditional and modern algebra. Includes exercises with complete solutions. The only prerequisite is high school-level algebra. 1959 edition.

Algebraic curves are the graphs of polynomial equations in two vari 3 ables, such as y3 + 5xy2 = x + 2xy. By focusing on curves of degree at most 3-lines, conics, and cubics-this book aims to fill the gap between the familiar subject of analytic geometry and the general study of alge braic curves. This text is designed for a one-semester class that serves both as a a geometry course for mathematics majors in general and as a sequel to college geometry for teachers of secondary school mathe matics. The only prerequisite is first-year calculus. On the one hand, this book can serve as a text for an undergraduate geometry course for all mathematics majors. Algebraic geometry unites algebra, geometry, topology, and analysis, and it is one of the most exciting areas of modem mathematics. Unfortunately, the subject is not easily accessible, and most introductory courses require a prohibitive amount of mathematical machinery. We avoid this problem by focusing on curves of degree at most 3. This keeps the results tangible and the proofs natural. It lets us emphasize the power of two fundamental ideas, homogeneous coordinates and intersection multiplicities.

This book is an informal and readable introduction to higher algebra at the post-calculus level. The concepts of ring and field are introduced through study of the familiar examples of the integers and polynomials. The new examples and theory are built in a well-motivated fashion and made relevant by many applications - to cryptography, coding, integration, history of mathematics, and especially to elementary and computational number theory. The later chapters include expositions of Rabiin's probabilistic primality test, quadratic reciprocity, and the classification of finite fields. Over 900 exercises are found throughout the book.