Derek J.S. Robinson - Böcker

"An excellent up-to-date introduction to the theory of groups. It is general yet comprehensive, covering various branches of group theory. The 15 chapters contain the following main topics: free groups and presentations, free products, decompositions, Abelian groups, finite permutation groups, representations of groups, finite and infinite soluble groups, group extensions, generalizations of nilpotent and soluble groups, finiteness properties." ---ACTA SCIENTIARUM MATHEMATICARUM

A Course in the Theory of Groups is a comprehensive introduction to the theory of groups - finite and infinite, commutative and non-commutative. While stressing the unity of group theory, the book also draws attention to connections with other areas of algebra such as ring theory and homological algebra.

This is a high level introduction to abstract algebra which is aimed at readers whose interests lie in mathematics and the information and physical sciences. In addition to introducing the main concepts of modern algebra – groups, rings, modules and fields – the book contains numerous applications, which are intended to illustrate the concepts and to show the utility and relevance of algebra today. In particular applications to Polya coloring theory, latin squares, Steiner systems, error correcting codes and economics are described. There is ample material here for a two semester course in abstract algebra. Proofs of almost all results are given. The reader led through the proofs in gentle stages. There are more than 500 problems, of varying degrees of diffi culty. The book should be suitable for advanced undergraduate students in their fi nal year of study and for fi rst or second year graduate students at a university in Europe or North America. In this third edition three new chapters have been added: an introduction to the representation theory of fi nite groups, free groups and presentations of groups, an introduction to category theory.

This book is a study of group theoretical properties of two dis­ parate kinds, firstly finiteness conditions or generalizations of fini­ teness and secondly generalizations of solubility or nilpotence. It will be particularly interesting to discuss groups which possess properties of both types. The origins of the subject may be traced back to the nineteen twenties and thirties and are associated with the names of R. Baer, S. N. Cernikov, K. A. Hirsch, A. G. Kuros, 0.]. Schmidt and H. Wie­ landt. Since this early period, the body of theory has expanded at an increasingly rapid rate through the efforts of many group theorists, particularly in Germany, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Some of the highest points attained can, perhaps, be found in the work of P. Hall and A. I. Mal'cev on infinite soluble groups. Kuras's well-known book "The theory of groups" has exercised a strong influence on the development of the theory of infinite groups: this is particularly true of the second edition in its English translation of 1955. To cope with the enormous increase in knowledge since that date, a third volume, containing a survey of the contents of a very large number of papers but without proofs, was added to the book in 1967.