An Introduction to Algebraic Structures

I found this book pretty good. I used to think that algebra was what came before calculus. Then I took a class about mathematical logic and I realized I was missing something. I think this book does a good job of explaining what modern/abstract algebra is about. I thought the sequence of topics helped me "get it", even though it does progress slowly. I'm about 2/3's of the way through and so far I think it has served it's purpose of introducing me to the topic of abstract algebra.

Landin's book is a great introduction to abstract algebra. It is written at about a 3rd year undergraduate level, so it should be easily accessible to interested readers. Mathematicians will probably find this book a bit easy, but for those of use who are not mathematicians by training, the ease of this book is welcome. The topics covered are set theory, the number systems, groups, group homomorphisms, rings, and polynomial rings. Landin provides plenty of definitions, theorems and proofs, but he is kind enough to also build intuition about the theory with incisive prose and illustrative examples. It is also great for self study, but does not include solutions to the problems. However Landin gives the reader the equipment necessary to solve the problems with little difficulty. Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the basics of abstract algebra.