Pesic P. Abel's Proof: An Essay on the Sources and Meaning of Mathematical Unsolvability

MIT, 2003. - 222 pages.This book tells the story of Abel's problem and his proof. The text contains a minimum of equations, so that the main lines of the argument should be accessible to people who are intrigued by ideas but feel uncomfortable with mathematical detail.Boxes develop arguments and give examples in greater depth, but these can be skipped without guilt. The appendixes go further still, including an annotated translation of Abel's pamphlet. The notes give references and suggestions for further reading.The Scandal of the Irrational
Controversy and Coefficients
Impossibilities and Imaginaries
Spirals and Seashores
Premonitions and Permutations
Abel's Proof
Abel and Galois
Seeing Symmetries
The Order of Things
Solving the Unsolvable
Appendix A: Abel's 1824 Paper
Appendix B: Abel on the General Fonn of an Algebraic Solution
Appendix C: Cauchy's Theorem on Permutations
Notes