First Course in Abstract Algebra

Like its popular predecessors, this text develops ring theory first by drawing on students'' familiarity with integers and polynomials. This unique approach motivates students in studying abstract algebra and helps them understand the power of abstraction. This edition makes it easier to teach unique factorization as an optional topic and reorganizes the core material on rings, integral domains, and fields. Along with new exercises on Galois theory, it also includes a more detailed treatment of permutations as well as new chapters on Sylow theorems.