群论导论

《群论导论(第4版)(英文版)》介绍了：Group Theory is a vast subject and, in this Introduction （as well as in theearlier editions）, I have tried to select important and representative theoremsand to organize them in a coherent way. Proofs must be clear, and examplesshould illustrate theorems and also explain the presence of restrictive hypo-theses. ！ also believe that some history should be given so that one canunderstand the origin of problems and the context in which the subjectdeveloped. Just as each of the earlier editions differs from the previous one in a signifi-cant way, the present （fourth） edition is genuinely different from the third.Indeed, this is already apparent in the Table of Contents. The book nowbegins with the unique factorization of permutations into disjoint cycles andthe parity of permutations; only then is the idea of group introduced. This isconsistent with the history of Group Theory, for these first results on permu-tations can be found in an 1815 paper by Cauchy, whereas groups of permu-tations were not introduced until 1831 （by Galois）But even if history