Topics in Group Theory (Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series)

The theory of groups is simultaneously a branch of abstract algebra and the study of symmetry. Designed for readers approaching the subject for the first time, this book reviews all the essentials. It recaps the basic definitions and results, including Lagranges Theorem, the isomorphism theorems and group actions. Later chapters include material on chain conditions and finiteness conditions, free groups and the theory of presentations. In addition, a novel chapter of "entertainments" demonstrates an assortment of results that can be achieved with the theoretical machinery.