Algebra: Abstract and Concrete

Frederick M. Goodman

The writing style is informal and conversational. Examples appear before formal definitions. In addition to the usual material for a year long course on groups, rings, and fields, this book treats group actions, modules, and the Galois correspondence. The prerequisite is a good grasp of linear algebra, and overall the level of sophistication is above that of most undergraduate texts. There are appendices with background material in logic, set theory, induction, complex numbers, and linear algebra. There are exercises at the end of each section. They range from computational to proofs of theorems in the text that have been left to the reader. There is no student solution manual because a major goal of the book is that students learn to work things out for themselves.