Maran Illustrated Effortless Algebra (repost)

This unique text provides a geometric approach to group theory and linear algebra, bringing to light the interesting ways in which these subjects interact. Requiring few prerequisites beyond understanding the notion of a proof, the text aims to give students a strong foundation in both geometry and algebra. Starting with preliminaries (relations, elementary combinatorics, and induction), the book then proceeds to the core topics: the elements of the theory of groups and fields (Lagrange's Theorem, cosets, the complex numbers and the prime fields), matrix theory and matrix groups, determinants, vector spaces, linear mappings, eigentheory and diagonalization, Jordan decomposition and normal form, normal matrices, and quadratic forms. The final two chapters consist of a more intensive look at group theory, emphasizing orbit stabilizer methods, and an introduction to linear algebraic groups, which enriches the notion of a matrix group.

Difference algebra grew out of the study of algebraic difference equations with coefficients from functional fields in much the same way as the classical algebraic geometry arose from the study of polynomial equations with numerical coefficients. The first stage of the development of the theory is associated with its founder J. F. Ritt (1893 - 1951) and R. Cohn whose book Difference Algebra (1965) remained the only fundamental monograph on the subject for many years.

Anhand einer Schulbuchanalyse zeigt Katrin Schiffer, dass Schülerinnen und Schüler im heutigen Mathematikunterricht eine stark empirisch-gegenständlich geprägte Auffassung von Algebra erlangen. Diese empirische Auffassung steht im Kontrast zu der üblicherweise formal abstrakten Auffassung der Lehrer. Die Autorin legt jedoch anhand der Analyse von Eulers Lehrbuch Vollständige Anleitung zur Algebra dar, dass die empirische Auffassung historisch berechtigt ist und eine adäquate Beschreibung der Schülertheorien darstellt. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen, an welchen Stellen im Lernprozess wahrscheinlich Schwierigkeiten beim Erlernen der Algebra auftreten werden, und dass diese Schwierigkeiten auf strukturellen Problemen beruhen.

This book addresses college students' weak foundation in algebra, its causes, and potential solutions to improve their long-term success and understanding in mathematics as a whole. The authors, who are experts in a wide variety of fields, emphasize that these difficulties are more complex than just forgotten rules, and offer strategic approaches from a number of angles that will increase the chances of student understanding. Instructors who are frustrated with their students’ lack of skills and knowledge at college level will find this volume helpful, as the authors confront the deeper reasons why students have difficulties with Algebra and reveal how to remedy the issue.

This textbook provides an accessible account of the history of abstract algebra, tracing a range of topics in modern algebra and number theory back to their modest presence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and exploring the impact of ideas on the development of the subject.

W.M. Seiler is professor for computational mathematics (algorithmic algebra) at Kassel University. His research fields include differential equations, commutative algebra and mechanics. He is particularly interested in combining geometric and algebraic approaches. For many years, he has been an external developer for the computer algebra system MuPAD.