The operations are necessarily algebraic, because the relative magnitudes of the given quantities and the quantity sought for are unknown; and it is the essential principle of abstract algebra to furnish rules and symbols of operation which are proper for calculating independently of the knowledge of relative magnitudes.

This is neither the best nor the worst of the many abstract algebra texts written for advanced undergraduate courses. The author devotes 300 pages to a first course in abstract algebra and 200 pages to a (presumably) second course in linear algebra.

Abstract algebra

Meaning

Noun