Recommendation for textbook on number theory

[dpackard]

So I'm in a number theory course this semester but we aren't using a textbook (the professor gave the explanation that they'd never found a textbook that does exactly what they wanted or something, but it seems from my investigations that our course follows a pretty standard introduction).

Anyway, I have a test coming up this week, and I think I'd like to find a good textbook to help me prepare. This is the second test, and after not performing as well on the first test as I would have liked, I believe reading something else would help. My notes are too disorganized to be of real use besides helping me remember concepts, and I obviously cannot write down detailed explanations of the "whys", only copy down the "hows." So if you know of a good book for this purpose, I would really appreciate any recommendations.

 

[morphism]

It would help if you listed the topics your course is covering!

 

[dpackard]

sorry! we've covered divisions, GCD, modular arithmetic, fermat's little theorem, fermat and mersenne primes, euler's phi function, and orders so far.

 

[morphism]

Try Elementary Number Theory by Jones & Jones.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

well, if I'm not mistaken the classic is by rosen and ireland.

 

[dpackard]

The rosen and ireland one seems to be a "graduate text," would you still recommend it?

 

[JasonRox]

I hate it when therer is no textbook, especially when there exists a million out there for number theory.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

The rosen and ireland one seems to be a "graduate text," would you still recommend it?

well it's recommended in my univ's course website here:
http://www.math.tau.ac.il/~rudnick/courses/int_numth.html
and it's an undergraduate course, so I guess it depends on your mathematical maturity.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Rosen & Ireland is hard. If you can follow it, you'll be well-prepared... but you might be better served by a more accessible book. I keep mine on a shelf and consult it when needed.

 

[PeteHat]

I would strongly recommend Elements of the Theory of Numbers by Dence. It is a very accessible and up to date introduction to the subject, covering all of the subjects you listed in addition to more advanced subjects suitable for a second course in number theory. Or, you could just search for "number theory ebook" or "number theory torrent" on google and download a plethora of books from which you have your choice.

 

[mathwonk]

http://www.trillia.com/moser-number.html