Download or read book Topics in Group Theory written by Geoff Smith and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of groups is simultaneously a branch of abstract algebra and the study of symmetry. Designed for readers approaching the subject for the first time, this book reviews all the essentials. It recaps the basic definitions and results, including Lagranges Theorem, the isomorphism theorems and group actions. Later chapters include material on chain conditions and finiteness conditions, free groups and the theory of presentations. In addition, a novel chapter of "entertainments" demonstrates an assortment of results that can be achieved with the theoretical machinery.