Number theory text

[s1018954@aix2.uottawa.ca]

On Tue, 16 Jan 1996, Mark Rogaski wrote:

> PS -- Going to consolidate posts here.  Can someone recommend a good 
> text for an intro to Number Theory?

My school's using Elementary Number Theory and Its Applications 3rd edition
(I think it is just out) by Kenneth H. Rosen, Addison-Wesley, it seems to 
cover a bit of crypto and the latest improvements in factoring. For more 
crypto orientation, Schneier recommends A Course in Number Theory and 
Cryptography 2nd ed, Neal Koblitz, Springer-Verlag, 1994. The intro to
number theory is more of a review, but the crypto part kicks in after 
page 54 and spans the rest of the book. Getting your Num Theory from Rosen
and your crypto from Koblitz is a good bet, as your local university 
library's likely to have both (mine had both 2nd eds, just picked 'em up as
a matter of coincidence).

Rosen seems to be one of those "standard textbooks" (we're using his Discrete
Math text too) and as for Koblitz, books by Springer have extremely high 
chances of turning up in universities. (It's in the yellow Grad Texts in Math
series, not the familiar silver Lecture Notes in CS series)