Elements of Algebra

Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Reading
Review: The title of this book is misleading. It essentially a book on Galois Theory based upon a course Dr. Stillwell taught (so he told me). I am sure that that was a great course; I think that Stillwell is one of the best writers in mathematics. But I would not teach a course out of this book at the undergraduate level. It is a great book to read for the student of Abstract Algebra. Although he introduces group theory in the text, I think the fundamental test is group theory: If you already know some group theory then you may enjoy this book as much as I did (which is quite a lot).

Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Reading
Review: The title of this book is misleading. It essentially a book on Galois Theory based upon a course Dr. Stillwell taught (so he told me). I am sure that that was a great course; I think that Stillwell is one of the best writers in mathematics. But I would not teach a course out of this book at the undergraduate level. It is a great book to read for the student of Abstract Algebra. Although he introduces group theory in the text, I think the fundamental test is group theory: If you already know some group theory then you may enjoy this book as much as I did (which is quite a lot).

Rating:
Summary: Pedantically poor.
Review: This John Stillwell character clearly knows what he is doing; however, this does not help those who are neophytes to abstract algebra. The main text generally has nothing to do with the examples which have nothing to do with the exercises which have nothing to do with the main text. An excellent tool - for those already familiar with the area.