Universal algebra (sometimes called general algebra) is the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures themselves, not examples ("models") of algebraic structures. For instance, rather than take particular groups as the object of study, in universal algebra one takes "the theory of groups" as an object of study.
Read more about Universal Algebra: Basic Idea, Varieties, Basic Constructions, Some Basic Theorems, Motivations and Applications, History
Famous quotes containing the words universal and/or algebra:
“Not so many years ago there there was no simpler or more intelligible notion than that of going on a journey. Travel—movement through space—provided the universal metaphor for change.... One of the subtle confusions—perhaps one of the secret terrors—of modern life is that we have lost this refuge. No longer do we move through space as we once did.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“Poetry has become the higher algebra of metaphors.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)