This is a paperback version of the second, much expanded, edition of Professor Macdonald's acclaimed monograph on symmetric functions and Hall polynomials. Almost every chapter has new sections and new examples have been included throughout. Extra material in the appendix to Chapter 1, for example, [...]
This book grew out of a course of lectures given to third year undergraduates at Oxford University and it has the modest aim of producing a rapid introduction to the subject. It is designed to be read by students who have had a first elementary course in general algebra. On the other hand, it is no[...]