As an example of general methodology, the evolution of the theory of equations from the Babylonian solution of a quadratic equation to its completion by Galois in 1830 is the focus of these lectures given to undergraduate math majors by Tignol (U. Catholique de Louvain, Belgium) from 1978-89. Includes technical appendices, exercises with selected solutions, and multilingual references from the 16th to 20th centuries. Earlier editions were published in 1988 by Longman and in 1980 in French. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)