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I want to (re)learn abstract algebra for the 'fun of it'. What are some good books/references, online tutorials for the same?

I want something that I can read at leisure and not fall asleep while reading - on the plane or a warm summer afternoon. I'd prefer to avoid dense texts unless I wish to explore something in depth.

Good references, not too dense like classic texts, with lots of examples and uses (either in math or applied math domains) and 'fun to read' would be worthwhile. Something that lays the context of what/why/how instead of just showing the what/how. I want to appreciate the underlying reasoning behind the creation of concepts like groups, rings etc., and not just read the 'what/how' behind them (I already know that).

Background: I have a graduate degree in CS and did study abstract algebra in my undergrad. Now I wish to revisit the topic with a different viewpoint since I believe I know have a much deeper understanding of things and would like to (re)learn thing something interesting. Abstract algebra is the next on my radar after I (re)learned mathematical optimization.

PhD
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    Out of curiosity, what did you read when you were relearning mathematical optimization? – littleO Aug 10 '13 at 22:56
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    @PhD: You might want to review these: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/49253/requesting-abstract-algebra-book-recommendations?rq=1, http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/174596/good-problem-book-on-abstract-algebra?rq=1, http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/54839/good-abstract-algebra-books-for-self-study?rq=1, http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/78286/casual-book-on-abstract-algebra?rq=1, http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/317938/abstract-algebra-book-recommendations-for-beginners?lq=1. Also, see "Applied Abstract Algebra" by Lidl and Pilz. Regards – Amzoti Aug 10 '13 at 23:06
  • @Amzoti- Cool! Thanks :) – PhD Aug 10 '13 at 23:06
  • @PhD: You are very welcome! For some more applications: see. http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/324253/are-there-real-world-applications-of-finite-group-theory/324435#324435 Regards – Amzoti Aug 10 '13 at 23:08
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    @littleO - Applied Mathematical Programming (1977), Convex Optimization - Boyd, books on approximation algorithms (to see how LP is used for approximating NP-hard ILP problems), tons of online tutorials and other references to name a few. – PhD Aug 10 '13 at 23:11

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You might like the book Visual Group Theory by Nathan Carter.

littleO
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