A Concrete Approach to Abstract Algebra

Jeffrey Bergen (DePaul, Chicago), received his B.S. in Mathematics from Brooklyn College in 1976. He received his M.S. in 1977 and Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of Chicago. His DePaul career began in 1981, where he continues to do research in the branch of abstract algebra known as noncommutative ring theory. His research has received external support from the English Speaking Union, the National Science Foundation, and the National Security Agency. He has given lectures in 7 countries and co-authored papers with 16 mathematicians around the world. In 2001, he received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and, in 2007, received their Cortelyou-Lowery Award for Excellence.

Introduction; What This Book Is about and Who This Book Is for; Proof and Intuition; The Integers; Rational Numbers and the Real Numbers; The Complex Numbers; The fundamental Theorem of Algebra; The Integers Modulo n; Group Theory; Polynomials over the Integers and Rationals; Roots of Polynomials of Degree Less than 5; Rational Values of Trigonometric Functions; Polynomials over Arbitrary Fields; Difference Functions and Partial Fractions; An Introduction to Linear Algebra and Vector Spaces; Degrees and Galois Groups of Field Extensions; Geometric Constructions; The Insolvability of the Quintic; Bibliography; Index