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:
“It is remarkable what a value is still put upon wood even in this age and in this new country, a value more permanent and universal than that of gold. After all our discoveries and inventions no man will go by a pile of wood. It is as precious to us as it was to our Saxon and Norman ancestors. If they made their bows of it, we make our gun-stocks of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Poetry has become the higher algebra of metaphors.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)