This book explores commutative ring theory, an important a foundation for algebraic geometry and complex analytical geometry.

A clear and structured introduction to the subject. After a chapter on the definition of rings and modules there are brief accounts of Artinian rings, commutative Noetherian rings and ring constructions, such as the direct product, Tensor product and rings of fractions, followed by a description of free rings. Readers are assumed to have a basic understanding of set theory, group theory and vector spaces. Over two hundred carefully selected exercises are included, most with outline solutions.

"Presents the proceedings of the recently held Third International Conference on Commutative Ring Theory in Fez, Morocco. Details the latest developments in commutative algebra and related areas-featuring 26 original research articles and six survey articles on fundamental topics of current interest. Examines wide-ranging developments in commutative algebra, together with connections to algebraic number theory and algebraic geometry."

Contains 25 surveys in algebra and model theory, all written by leading experts in the field. The surveys are based around talks given at conferences held in Essen, 1994, and Dresden, 1995. Each contribution is written in such a way as to highlight the ideas that were discussed at the conferences, and also to stimulate open research problems in a form accessible to the whole mathematical community. The topics include field and ring theory as well as groups, ordered algebraic structure and their relationship to model theory. Several papers deal with infinite permutation groups, abelian groups, modules and their relatives and representations. Model theoretic aspects include quantifier elimination in skew fields, Hilbert's 17th problem, (aleph-0)-categorical structures and Boolean algebras. Moreover symmetry questions and automorphism groups of orders are covered. This work contains 25 surveys in algebra and model theory, each is written in such a way as to highlight the ideas that were discussed at Conferences, and also to stimulate open research problems in a form accessible to the whole mathematical community.