Introduction To Commutative Algebra (Addison-Wesley Series in Mathematics)

Now this is clearly *the* best mathematics text I've come upon. It was the syllabus in my first course in commutative algebra. Taking the course and readig the book was a real pain, but I've never learned so much from so few pages.In addition to introducing "all" necessary subjects in commutative algebra, the book is stuffed with really good exercises. I always come back to this book - looking up terms and definitions and proofs. And of course, taking it with me on holidays so I can work on the exercises :).

Love the exercises. They supplement the exposition so well that together they produce magic.

I was foolish enough to buy the book used (given other reviews on how bad the printing is) thinking I might get an older edition but no. Printing looks like a cheap copy and at times not even readable. Do not buy!

good

Prompt shipping. Product as described

This is a very good, short and useful account of basic commutative algebra, by two famous algebraic geometers (one a Fields medalist) that has long been recommended as unusually accessible to students. Unfortunately such books have been shamelessly inflated in price in recent years, and I for one agree that this book's price has now exceeded its value. It is after all, an outline of material explained in more detail elsewhere, and it would be an unusually well off student who can be recommended to choose this book at this price. For about the same money one can buy both of Miles Reid's books, Undergraduate commutative algebra, and Undergraduate algebraic geometry, and probably be better off, or the very well regarded second attempt at explaining the topic by Matsumura, Commutative ring theory. Eisenbud's massive tome at over 5 times the length is now about half as expensive, at around $35. Even Hartshorne's standard algebraic geometry book, which at least states all the commutative algebra results needed, is cheaper. I regret to say this since the book really is a good one, but the authors are being embarrassed and their students are being exploited here by this pricing policy. One should not encourage this kind of blackmail by publishers. In fact I just noticed the classic work by Zariski and Samuel is available used for $50 or less for both volumes! Last time I taught the course I found myself preferring that fuller version to the one under review. I suggest going there instead.

This book is a classic of outstanding clarity and there is nothing that needs to be said about the content of this book that has not already been said elsewhere.I am reviewing this book because of the printing quality of this edition. I am outraged. The cost of the printing is clearly below 2 pounds and the book is barely readable. Yet it is being sold for 40 pounds. This is an insult to both the reader and the authors.What annoys me most is that I realised too late that I could return it even though it arrived undamaged. I want my money back. This is a disgrace.

Some people believe that, for getting into algebraic geometry (by this I mean Grothendieck-like AG, with schemes and all that), one needs a monolithic training in commutative algebra (something like both volumes of Zariski-Samuel, for example). I disagree. This little book seems to be specially suited to those who want to learn AG. It's a bit too brisk, specially at the beginning - if you don't already have an acquaintance with the basics of groups, rings and ideals, you may run into trouble - but very illuminating. Masterful choice of topics, great exercises (as a matter of fact, about half the topics of the book, and more specifically the ones that are directly related to AG, are treated in the exercises, some of them quite challenging) - like one said before, it looks like a "chapter 0" of Hartshorne's book on AG. The authors consciously estabilish relations between the commutative algebra and the modern foundations of AG over and over along the way, illuminating both topics.For the algebra itself, it also gets on well with Rotman's "Galois Theory" and MacDonald's out-of-print introduction to AG, "Algebraic Geometry - Introduction to Schemes", besides being the perfect preamble in commutative algebra to the books of Mumford and Hartshorne. A gem.

I am honestly outraged about the printing quality of the copy I received. I knew the book from a hardback copy I had gotten from the library. The printing in this cheap print paperback version is barely readable. I paid 40 pounds for this when the printing cost is below 5 pounds. (Since this book is a standard work it is not necessary to mention that the contents of the book are excellent)

As others have rightly said probably the best book on the subject. But £58.72 for 128 pages so badly printed as to be hardly readable is just theft.

This sounds like a hyperbole, but it is one of the best math book I have ever read. You cannot find an extra word anywhere, it is a book to keep in one's library if the subject interests you. The main defect is that some of the exercises are very difficult and they deserve much more space, therefore there are few basic examples which would be very useful the first time reading about these topics.