This book does nothing less than provide an account of the intellectual lineage of abstract algebra. The development of abstract algebra was propelled by the need for new tools to address certain classical problems that appeared insoluble by classical means. A major theme of the book is to show how abstract algebra has arisen in attempting to solve some of these classical problems, providing a context from which the reader may gain a deeper appreciation of the mathematics involved. Mathematics instructors, algebraists, and historians of science will find the work a valuable reference.