A Survey of Modern Algebra (Akp Classics) 1st Edition by Garrett Birkhoff (PDF)

Description

This classic, written by two young instructors who became giants in their field, has shaped the understanding of modern algebra for generations of mathematicians and remains a valuable reference and text for self study and college courses.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Garrett Birkhoff published more than 200 papers and supervised more than 50 Ph.Ds. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He spent most of his career as a professor of mathematics at Harvard University. During the 1930s, Birkhoff, along with his Harvard colleagues Marshall Stone and Saunders MacLane, substantially advanced American teaching and research in abstract algebra. His 1935 paper, On the Structure of Abstract Algebras founded a new branch of mathematics, universal algebra. Saunders Mac Lane was the author or co-author of more than 100 research papers and six books. Mac Lane was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1949. He received the nation s highest award for scientific achievement, the National Medal of Science, in 1989. Mac Lane received two Guggenheim Fellowships and visited Australia as a Fulbright Scholar. Other honors include both the Chauvenet Prize and the Distinguished Service award of the Mathematical Association of America, the Steele Career Prize of the American Mathematical Society, and honorary fellowship in the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m not a math major, so I don’t like my math books written in all Greek symbols. I don’t like when every sentence refers to a theorem containing names and terms I’ve never heard before.This book is something any willing and reasonably intelligent person can learn something from. I really like this. Also, the subject matter is a really good combination of algebra, and how it fits in with everything else. That being the case, it goes a long way to explaining how many different math ideas come together.

⭐Absolutely not what we paid for. Pages are completely out of order with many pages missing. My husband describes this book as someone dropped the manuscript and bound it in no particular order. Even the content pages are misprinted and with major parts missing. He expected much more from a book authored by professors from Harvard University and The University of Chicago. This book is useless and is being returned.

⭐The foundations of abstract algebra with no frills or “for dummies”. Intended for the serious learner that wants to be successful when they go on to graduate school in mathematics or any related discipline.

⭐wish they included answers to the practice problems

⭐This is a classic book on Algebra. There is much that I like about it. It is exactly what the name suggests–a survey course. It briefly introduces all sorts of topics, including rings, fields, groups, galois theory, vector spaces, lattices, boolean algebras, and much more. It is written at a fairly elementary level and it generally doesn’t go into a great amount of depth in each subject. Interestingly, many (more modern) algebra texts omit a number of rather basic topics in this book. Also, many modern books separate “linear algebra” from “abstract algebra”, whereas this book takes a more integrated approach.I find it exceptionally clear and easy to read. Many of the subjects are made particularly easy; there is a strong concrete flavour to the text. The authors provide good motivation for the material.I think this book would make excellent reading material for someone who is planning to study algebra. I did not pick it up until early in graduate school, and I wish I had had access to it earlier, when I was first studying ring and field theory. It is a fantastic reference for intermediate students, since it covers just about all the basics of algebra, and does so in a very understandable way. I think this book would make a fine textbook for an undergraduate course as well.

⭐Modern algebra is an extraordinary topic and Birkhoff and MacLane do a superb job of exploring it. However, as is often the case with mathematical texts, the material can be somewhat dry.

⭐Trata-se, a meu ver, de um dos mais importantes livros de Matemática já escritos.The book gives a concise overview of the zeros of polynomials of degree 2,3 and 4. I used the method on pages 102-103 to factorize a quartic polynomial f(t) with coefficients in a real rational function field of two variables, x, 0