Good Books on Groups for Algebra Learners: A Book of Abstract Algebra

[cragar]

Does anyone know of a good book to read about groups for algebra? I've head that a good book was "A Book of Abstract Algebra" by Charles R. Pinter. And I am just learning about groups so it should be basic.

 

[micromass]

You probably have the Pinter-book from me But yes, I can recommend it very much. The book is basic in the sense that it's completely self-contained. It's quite an easy book, but it eventually manages to get into Galois theory!
The thing I like about the Pinter book is that it reads like a novel. It's like the author is talking with you. It's certainly not a typical math book where there is a definition-theorem-proof structure.
I do recommend making all the exercises, though. A lot of time, much of the important results are hidden in the exercises.

Another nice book is Fraleigh, but I didn't read that one yet.

 

[Number Nine]

If you're looking for an introductory text, I'm a big fan of Armstrong's Groups and Symmetry. You'll want to pair it with another standard introductory text (say, Gilbert's Elements of Modern Algebra), since the presentation is highly geometrical and slightly different from what you'll see in most texts.

 

[cragar]

thanks for the responses.

 

[Sankaku]

Pinter is great. A superb book for very little cost.

I also enjoyed looking through this book:

Visual Group Theory by Carter
http://web.bentley.edu/empl/c/ncarter/vgt/

It takes a somewhat unusual approach and I would suggest it as a supplement to Pinter, but it contains a lot of really nice material presented in a different way to other texts.

 

[mathwonk]

well, you get what you pay for, but there is a free book, notes for math 843, on the website

http://www.math.uga.edu/~roy/Among books by experts, and for sale, I recommend Michael Artin's Algebra.

 

[qspeechc]

Fraleigh is the most basic algebra book I've seen, but don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with that if that is the appropriate book for the reader (though I would not recommend it to a maths major...). I think most people will be able to handle Fraleigh, it also has answers at the back. You don't need the latest edition, but don't get either of the first two editions because they have no proofs.