Ideal for a first course in number theory, this lively, engaging text requires only a familiarity with elementary algebra and the properties of real numbers. Author Underwood Dudley, who has written a series of popular mathematics books, maintains that the best way to learn mathematics is by solving problems. In keeping with this philosophy, the text includes nearly 1,000 exercises and problems some computational and some classical, many original, and some with complete solutions.
The opening chapters offer sound explanations of the basics of elementary number theory anddevelop the...