No label defined (Q4040876)

The book gives a very clear and elementary introduction to the basic concepts of group theory. It uses almost no prerequisites and may be used as a first introduction to number theory and algebra for first year students. It is, according to its title, essentially divided into three parts: In the first part an account of elementary number theory (with emphasis on the additive and multiplicative properties of sets of congruence classes) is given. The aim of this part is to motivate in a natural way the abstract concept of a group. In the second part properties of groups, up to the theorem of Lagrange and the classification of groups of small order are given. In the last part finally, applications to error-detecting and error- correcting codes are shown. Further one chapter on logic and boolean algebra and one chapter on sets, functions and relations are included. The book provides many (very explicitly worked out) examples and many exercises and may therefore well used by students for self-teaching.