Lam presents an updated and renamed version of The Algebraic Theory of Quadratic Forms (Benjamin, 1973; revised edition, 1980). New results and new viewpoints in quadratic forms theory from the past decade have been incorporated into the original text and two new chapters added. Coverage includes Witt rings; quaternion algebras; the Brauer-Wall groups; Clifford algebras; local and global fields; quadratic forms under algebraic extensions; formally real fields, real-closed fields, and Pythagorean fields; transcendental extensions; Pfister forms and function fields; field invariants; and special topics in quadratic forms and on invariants. The text assumes a good grounding in graduate level algebra and is intended as a graduate text and as a reference for researchers. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)