Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Groups and Symmetry: A Guide to Discovering Mathematics (Mathematical World, Vol. 5) by David W. Farmer ISBN: 0-8218-0450-2 Publisher: American Mathematical Society Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)
Rating: 4
Summary: An excellent primer on abstract algebra
Comment: Groups are the first structures encountered in abstract algebra and form the foundation for most of the others. Fortunately, they are also the easiest to physically represent, so in some sense they are the most concrete. In this book, groups are introduced as the motions and structures of geometric figures, so the presentation is largely by diagram rather than formula. Very little previous knowledge of mathematics is required and after reading the book, you will have a solid understanding of what a group is.
The first topic is the moving of a complete figure to a different location of the plane defined by a grid of points. By keeping the figure rigid and fixed in orientation, a set of legal moves is defined. After that, some of the rules are relaxed and that allows for additional moves to be added. Exercises and problems are put forward here and throughout the book, and with the accent on figures, often give the appearance of a game.
The next steps are then to allow for all possible rotations, translations and reflections of the objects, using these to explain the structure of a group. This is an effective way to introduce group theory, and is how I will do it if I teach abstract algebra again. Permutation and plane tiling symmetry groups are then introduced and examined, and their relationship to the previous groups discussed, which introduces the concept of isomorphism.
Basic group theory is something that everyone can understand, as humans have a natural affinity for patterns and recognizing them despite "trivial" alterations. This book is an excellent primer on group theory and I strongly recommend it to anyone either learning or teaching abstract algebra.
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
 |
Title: Knots and Surfaces: A Guide to Discovering Mathematics (Mathematical World, Vol. 6) by David W. Farmer, Theodore B. Stanford ISBN: 0821804510 Publisher: American Mathematical Society Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics by John Derbyshire ISBN: 0309085497 Publisher: Joseph Henry Press Pub. Date: 23 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: Mathematical Groups (TEACH YOURSELF) by Tony Barnard, Hugh Neill ISBN: 0844230774 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved by Robin Wilson ISBN: 0691115338 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Mathematics and Sports (Mathematical World, Vol 3) by L.E. Sadovskii, A.L. Sadovskii, S. Makar-Limanov ISBN: 0821895001 Publisher: American Mathematical Society Pub. Date: 01 November, 1993 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
