John Stillwell Elements of Algebra Geometry, Numbers, Equations With 34 illustrations 6 SpringerJohn Stillwell Department of Mathematics Monash University Clayton, Victoria 3168 Australia Editorial Board: S. Axler EW. Gehring Department of Mathematics Department of Mathematics Michigan State University University of Michigan East Lansing, MI 48824 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA USA P.R. Halmos Department of Mathematics Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 00-01, 08-01, LISXX, 14-XX Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Stillwell, John, Elements of algebra : geometry, numbers, equations / John well, p. om, -- (Undergraduate texts in mathematics) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-387-94290-4, -- ISBN 3-540-94290-4 1. Algebra. 1. Title. II. Series. QAI55.S75. 1994 512°.02-dc20 94-1085 Printed on acid-free paper. © 1994 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the writ- ten permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis, Use in con- nection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer soft- ware, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden, The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone. Production managed by Karen Phillips, manufacturing supervised by Vincent Scelta, Photocomposed pages prepared from the author's LATgX file. Printed and bound by Edwards Brothers, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI. Printed in the United States of America, 9 87 6 5 43 2 (Corrected second printing, 1996) ISBN 0-387-94290-4 Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg ISBN 3-340-94290-4 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York SPIN 10546993To Elaine