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Contemporary Abstract Algebra

books on a shelf
Book cover of "Contemporary Abstract Algebra" (Tenth Edition) by Joseph A. Gallian, part of the Textbooks in Mathematics series. The design features a colorful, symmetrical geometric pattern centered on a light blue background, with the CRC Press and Chapman & Hall logos at the bottom.
  • Author: Joseph A. Gallian
  • Publisher: Chapman and Hall/CRC
  • Publication Date: 12/30/2020
  • Number of Pages: 654
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Price: $99.95
  • ISBN: 978-0367651787
  • Category: textbook

[Reviewed by Benjamin Linowitz, on 05/29/2021]

It has now been 35 years since Gallian's classic textbook Contemporary Abstract Algebra was first published. The book is deservedly popular with instructors of abstract algebra courses. It is written at an appropriate level for junior and senior undergraduates, has lucid coverage of all of the standard topics and several nonstandard ones (Coding Theory, Greek Geometric Construction Problems, etc), is example-driven, and contains thousands of exercises at various levels of difficulty. Moreover, every chapter begins with an interesting quote or two (by as diverse a group of people as Einstein, Miguel de Cervantes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bob Dylan, etc) and most conclude with a mini- biography of a mathematician whose work relates to the chapter's content. This is an interesting book that is a pleasure to read.

According to the Preface, changes made for the tenth edition include:

  • Approximately 200 new exercises
  • Many new examples
  • New quotes
  • A  freshening of the discussion portions

Benjamin Linowitz (benjamin.linowitz@oberlin.edu) is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Oberlin College.