Galois Theory, 5th Edition

Preface to the Fifth Edition

The first edition of Galois Theory appeared in 1973. New editions introduced various changes, especially the third, which began with a more concrete treatment using subfields of the complex numbers. This change was made so that students could appreciate the main ideas of Galois theory without becoming involved in a large amount of background material from abstract algebra. Anyone preferring the abstract treatment could omit this introductory material. This decision was a compromise and had a mixed reception. After wide consultation with mathematicians who have been teaching courses using the book, I have retained this two-stage structure. Since five prefaces seem excessive, this one begins with edited extracts from ...