The earliest algebra consists in the solution of equations.
But when I took up algebra I had a harder time still.
In algebra he discovered the method of approximating to the real roots of an equation by means of continued fractions, and imagined a general process of solving algebraical equations of every degree.
The theories of determinants and of symmetric functions and of the algebra of differential operations have an important bearing upon this comparatively new branch of mathematics.
But, when I took up Algebra, I had a harder time still--I was terribly handicapped by my imperfect knowledge of the notation.