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In my text-book there is just an endless stream of theorems and it's just a big hot bowl of algebra with literally nothing to compare it all to.

I know that a relation is a specific form of connection between sets but my book decided that explaining what exactly, shouldn't matter. So I ask you: Is there any place I can go where I can get a tangible idea of what abstract algebra is? In other words, I could look up "relations" and see how they can be applied to less-abstract problems?

user642796
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Paze
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    What book do you use? – Ulrik Jan 20 '14 at 22:09
  • A relation is a very rich structure that can represent many things. If you want to have something in mind, put the points of one of the sets on the first half of the page, the elements of the second set on the other half, and for every element of the relation an arrow pointing form an element of the first set to an element of the second set. – OR. Jan 20 '14 at 22:12
  • Bourbaki or Lang –  Jan 20 '14 at 22:14
  • My book is "Introduction to Abstract algebra" by D.S. Malik, Mordeson and Sen. – Paze Jan 20 '14 at 22:37
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    I found group actions and the various coloring problems of geometric solids and necklaces ("How many distinct necklaces of $n$ beads can be made with $k$ colors of beads?") to be quite concrete and tangible from the beginning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action – Sammy Black Jan 20 '14 at 22:41
  • Groups are used to described symmetry. Artin's Algebra often emphasizes the geometric aspects of group theory. – Viktor Vaughn Jan 20 '14 at 23:21
  • Gallians book also strives to always connect the theorems to concepts. I think youre just working with a non-introductory text – still_learning Jan 21 '14 at 01:10

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