
Abstract Algebra: Theory and Applications (A Free Textbook) - MaysonL
http://abstract.ups.edu/
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mjw
Is anyone here applying abstract algebra to technology projects which might
interest us HN readers?

I studied it as an undergraduate; when I think about applications I've found
in technology work and computer science, the following spring to mind:

* Linear algebra -- obviously very useful, although not everyone would consider it abstract enough to lump under abstract algebra. * The structural side (category theory, universal algebra etc) very useful for grokking theoretical computer science * Lattices, order theory, boolean algebras etc -- also very useful for computer science, but perhaps tending a bit away from algebra and towards logic.

I'm not sure I've really wielded in anger any non-trivial theorems from the
theory of groups and rings though. Maybe a little bit of basic group theory.
But perhaps I've lead a boring life. Interested to hear what people are doing
with it in the tech / comp sci field :)

(Crypto, I guess, is one important area. And the 'patch algebra' of the darcs
VCS was another interesting application I spotted)

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6ren
Not me of course, but Armstrong began Erlang by writing an algebra for
telephony exchanges.

Codd wrote an algebra for relations.

Thompson implemented Kleene's regular expressions (notated with an algebra).

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Natsu
Sometimes, I wish I was 20 years younger so that I could have been reading
stuff like this all through my childhood.

I wonder how long before we see child prodigies who read all these free
textbooks, Khan academy stuff, and online MIT courses coming out in droves?

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InclinedPlane
It's an interesting question. I discovered in high-school that an avid
interest in science expressed through reading back issues of national
geographic, popular science, and other similar magazines can give you a
significant leg up (giving me a lot of advantages in biology, chemistry,
physics, mathematics, and computer science).

In some ways a lot of what's available online for free is better (wikipedia is
generally better than most physical encyclopedias, not least because it's so
fast to search), but in some cases there's still a gap. There are plenty of
bite-sized nibbles, but there aren't as many cohesive, well put-together
larger bites of knowledge such as you'd find with popularized science books
and magazine articles.

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vsthesquares
I tried and quickly stumbled learning abstract algebra from this book. I liked
"A Book of Abstract Algebra" by Pinter better because it was lighter on the
presentation. But maybe I'm just a wimp. This text by Judson seems to be
geared towards graduate studens. From what I can tell it's very thorough,
though.

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Aqwis
I haven't tried learning from it, but it doesn't seem to be higher level than
Fraleigh's classic book on Abstract Algebra, which I use and is intended for
undergraduates.

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tychonoff
Another nice Math textbook - really solid presentation.

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SlyShy
I also recommend Algebra by Michael Artin--but it isn't free, unfortunately.

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JoeCamel
It's used in the course "Abstract Algebra" (Harvard). Lecture videos are
available: <http://www.extension.harvard.edu/openlearning/math222/> Benedict
Gross is a great lecturer and I recommend watching them.

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mathgladiator
I just gave this a cursory glance, and I have to say I'm impressed.

Anyone studying CS could benefit from this book.

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meemo
It's on bitbucket too: <http://bitbucket.org/judson/aata>

Nobody's commenting on the fact that this book is open source, GFDL.

