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Galois Theory 2nd Edition David A. Cox Digital Instant
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Author(s): David A. Cox
ISBN(s): 9781118072059, 1118072057
Edition: 2
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Year: 2012
Language: english
GALOIS THEORY
PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS
A Wiley Series of Texts, Monographs, and Tracts
Founded by RICHARD COURANT
Editors Emeriti: MYRON B. ALLEN III, DAVID A. COX, PETER HILTON,
HARRY HOCHSTADT, PETER LAX, JOHN TOLAND
A complete list of the titles in this series appears at the end of this volume.
GALOIS THEORY
Second Edition

David A. Cox
Department of Mathematics
Amherst College
Amherst, MA

WILEY
A JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC., PUBLICATION
Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Allrightsreserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Cox, David A.
Galois theory / David A. Cox. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-07205-9 (cloth)
1. Galois theory. I. Title.
QA214.C69 2012
512\32—dc23 2011039044

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my family
even the cats
CONTENTS

Preface to the First Edition xvii

Preface to the Second Edition xxi

Notation xxiii
1 Basic Notation xxiii
2 Chapter-by-Chapter Notation xxv

PART I POLYNOMIALS

1 Cubic Equations 3
1.1 Cardan' s Formulas 4
Historical Notes 8
1.2 Permutations of the Roots 10
A Permutations 10
B The Discriminant 11
C Symmetric Polynomials 13
vii
VÜi CONTENTS

Mathematical Notes 14
Historical Notes 14
1.3 Cubic Equations over the Real Numbers 15
A The Number of Real Roots 15
B Trigonometric Solution of the Cubic 18
Historical Notes 19
References 23

2 Symmetric Polynomials 25
2.1 Polynomials of Several Variables 25
A The Polynomial Ring in n Variables 25
B The Elementary Symmetric Polynomials 27
Mathematical Notes 29
2.2 Symmetric Polynomials 30
A The Fundamental Theorem 30
B The Roots of a Polynomial 35
C Uniqueness 36
Mathematical Notes 37
Historical Notes 38
2.3 Computing with Symmetric Polynomials (Optional) 42
A Using Mathematica 42
B Using Maple 44
2.4 The Discriminant 46
Mathematical Notes 48
Historical Notes 50
References 53

3 Roots of Polynomials 55
3.1 The Existence of Roots 55
Mathematical Notes 59
Historical Notes 61
3.2 The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra 62
Mathematical Notes 66
Historical Notes 67
References 70
 CONTENTS IX

PART II FIELDS

4 Extension Fields 73
4.1 Elements of Extension Fields 73
A Minimal Polynomials 74
B Adjoining Elements 75
Mathematical Notes 79
Historical Notes 79
4.2 Irreducible Polynomials 81
A Using Maple and Mathematica 81
B Algorithms for Factoring 83
C The Schönemann-Eisenstein Criterion 84
D Prime Radicals 85
Historical Notes 87
4.3 The Degree of an Extension 89
A Finite Extensions 89
B The Tower Theorem 91
Mathematical Notes 93
Historical Notes 93
4.4 Algebraic Extensions 95
Mathematical Notes 97
References 98

5 Normal and Separable Extensions 101

5.1 Splitting Fields 101
A Definition and Examples 101
B Uniqueness 103
5.2 Normal Extensions 107
Historical Notes 108
5.3 Separable Extensions 109
A Fields of Characteristic 0 112
B Fields of Characteristic p 113
C Computations 114
Mathematical Notes 116
5.4 Theorem of the Primitive Element 119
Mathematical Notes 122
Historical Notes 122
References 123
X CONTENTS

6 The Galois Group 125

6.1 Definition of the Galois Group 125
Historical Notes 128
6.2 Galois Groups of Splitting Fields 130
6.3 Permutations of the Roots 132
Mathematical Notes 134
Historical Notes 135
6.4 Examples of Galois Groups 136
A The pth Roots of 2 136
B The Universal Extension 138
C A Polynomial of Degree 5 139
Mathematical Notes 139
Historical Notes 141
6.5 Abelian Equations (Optional) 143
Historical Notes 145
References 146

7 The Galois Correspondence 147

7.1 Galois Extensions 147
A Splitting Fields of Separable Polynomials 147
B Finite Separable Extensions 150
C Galois Closures 151
Historical Notes 152
7.2 Normal Subgroups and Normal Extensions 154
A Conjugate Fields 154
B Normal Subgroups 155
Mathematical Notes 159
Historical Notes 160
7.3 The Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory 161
7.4 First Applications 167
A The Discriminant 167
B The Universal Extension 169
C The Inverse Galois Problem 170
Historical Notes 172
7.5 Automorphisms and Geometry (Optional) 173
A Groups of Automorphisms 173
B Function Fields in One Variable 175
C Linear Fractional Transformations 178
 CONTENTS Xi

D Stereographic Projection 180

Mathematical Notes 183
References 188

PART III APPLICATIONS

8 Solvability by Radicals 191

8.1 Solvable Groups 191
Mathematical Notes 194
8.2 Radical and Solvable Extensions 196
A Definitions and Examples 196
B Compositums and Galois Closures 198
C Properties of Radical and Solvable Extensions 198
Historical Notes 200
8.3 Solvable Extensions and Solvable Groups 201
A Roots of Unity and Lagrange Resolvents 201
B Galois's Theorem 204
C Cardan's Formulas 207
Historical Notes 208
8.4 Simple Groups 210
Mathematical Notes 213
Historical Notes 214
8.5 Solving Polynomials by Radicals 215
A Roots and Radicals 215
B The Universal Polynomial 217
C Abelian Equations 217
D The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra Revisited 218
Historical Notes 219
8.6 The Casus Irreducbilis (Optional) 220
A Real Radicals 220
B Irreducible Polynomials with Real Radical Roots 222
C The Failure of Solvability in Characteristic p 224
Historical Notes 226
References 227

9 Cyclotomic Extensions 229

9.1 Cyclotomic Polynomials 229
A Some Number Theory 230
B Definition of Cyclotomic Polynomials 231
XÜ CONTENTS

C The Galois Group of a Cyclotomic Extension 233

Historical Notes 235
9.2 Gauss and Roots of Unity (Optional) 238
A The Galois Correspondence 238
B Periods 239
C Explicit Calculations 242
D Solvability by Radicals 246
Mathematical Notes 248
Historical Notes 249
References 254

10 Geometric Constructions 255

10.1 Constructible Numbers 255
Mathematical Notes 264
Historical Notes 266
10.2 Regular Polygons and Roots of Unity 270
Historical Notes 271
10.3 Origami (Optional) 274
A Origami Constructions 274
B Origami Numbers 276
C Marked Rulers and Intersections of Conies 279
Mathematical Notes 282
Historical Notes 283
References 288

11 Finite Fields 291

11.1 The Structure of Finite Fields 291
A Existence and Uniqueness 291
B Galois Groups 294
Mathematical Notes 296
Historical Notes 297
11.2 Irreducible Polynomials over Finite Fields (Optional) 301
A Irreducible Polynomials of Fixed Degree 301
B Cyclotomic Polynomials Modulo p 304
C Berlekamp's Algorithm 305
Historical Notes 307
References 310
 CONTENTS XÜi

PART IV FURTHER TOPICS

12 Lagrange, Galois, and Kronecker 315

12.1 Lagrange 315
A Resolvent Polynomials 317
B Similar Functions 320
C The Quartic 323
D Higher Degrees 326
E Lagrange Resolvents 328
Historical Notes 329
12.2 Galois 334
A Beyond Lagrange 335
B Galois Resolvents 335
C Galois's Group 337
D Natural and Accessory Irrationalities 339
E Galois's Strategy 341
Historical Notes 343
12.3 Kronecker 347
A Algebraic Quantities 347
B Module Systems 349
C Splitting Fields 350
Historical Notes 353
References 356

13 Computing Galois Groups 357

13.1 Quartic Polynomials 357
Mathematical Notes 363
Historical Notes 366
13.2 Quintic Polynomials 368
A Transitive Subgroups of S5 368
B Galois Groups of Quintics 371
C Examples 376
D Solvable Quintics 377
Mathematical Notes 378
Historical Notes 380
13.3 Resolvents 386
A Jordan's Strategy 386
B Relative Resolvents 389
XIV CONTENTS

C Quartics in All Characteristics 390

D Factoring Resolvents 393
Mathematical Notes 396
13.4 Other Methods 400
A Kronecker's Analysis 400
B Dedekind's Theorem 404
Mathematical Notes 406
References 410

14 Solvable Permutation Groups 413

14.1 Polynomials of Prime Degree 413
Mathematical Notes 417
Historical Notes 417
14.2 Imprimitive Polynomials of Prime-Squared Degree 419
A Primitive and Imprimitive Groups 419
B Wreath Products 421
C The Solvable Case 424
Mathematical Notes 425
Historical Notes 426
14.3 Primitive Permutation Groups 429
A Doubly Transitive Permutation Groups 429
B Affine Linear and Semilinear Groups 430
C Minimal Normal Subgroups 431
D The Solvable Case 433
Mathematical Notes 437
Historical Notes 439
14.4 Primitive Polynomials of Prime-Squared Degree 444
A The First Two Subgroups 444
B The Third Subgroup 446
C The Solvable Case 450
Mathematical Notes 457
Historical Notes 458
References 462

15 The Lemniscate 463

15.1 Division Points and Arc Length 464
A Division Points of the Lemniscate 464
B Arc Length of the Lemniscate 466
 CONTENTS XV

Mathematical Notes 467

Historical Notes 469
15.2 The Lemniscatic Function 470
A A Periodic Function 471
B Addition Laws 473
C Multiplication by Integers 476
Historical Notes 479
15.3 The Complex Lemniscatic Function 482
A A Doubly Periodic Function 482
B Zeros and Poles 484
Mathematical Notes 487
Historical Notes 488
15.4 Complex Multiplication 489
A The Gaussian Integers 490
B Multiplication by Gaussian Integers 491
C Multiplication by Gaussian Primes 497
Mathematical Notes 501
Historical Notes 502
15.5 Abel's Theorem 504
A The Lemniscatic Galois Group 504
B Straightedge-and-Compass Constructions 506
Mathematical Notes 508
Historical Notes 510
References 513

A Abstract Algebra 515

A.l Basic Algebra 515
A Groups 515
B Rings 519
C Fields 520
D Polynomials 522
A.2 Complex Numbers 524
A Addition, Multiplication, and Division 524
B Roots of Complex Numbers 525
A.3 Polynomials with Rational Coefficients 528
A.4 Group Actions 530
A.5 More Algebra 532
A The Sylow Theorems 532
XVI CONTENTS

B The Chinese Remainder Theorem 533

C The Multiplicative Group of a Field 533
D Unique Factorization Domains 534

B Hints to Selected Exercises 537

C Student Projects 551

References 555
A Books and Monographs on Galois Theory 555
B Books on Abstract Algebra 556
C Collected Works 556

Index 557
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

Galois theory is a wonderful part of mathematics. Its historical roots date back to the
solution of cubic and quartic equations in the sixteenth century. But besides helping
us understand the roots of polynomials, Galois theory also gave birth to many of the
central concepts of modern algebra, including groups and fields. In addition, there is
the human drama of Evariste Galois, whose death at age 20 left us with the brilliant
but not fully developed ideas that eventually led to Galois theory.
Besides being great history, Galois theory is also great mathematics. This is due
primarily to two factors: first, its surprising link between group theory and the roots
of polynomials, and second, the elegance of its presentation. Galois theory is often
described as one of the most beautiful parts of mathematics.
This book was written in an attempt to do justice to both the history and the power
of Galois theory. My goal is for students to appreciate the elegance of the theory and
simultaneously have a strong sense of where it came from.
The book is intended for undergraduates, so that many graduate-level topics are
not covered. On the other hand, the book does discuss a broad range of topics,
including symmetric polynomials, angle trisections via origami, Galois's criterion
for an irreducible polynomial of prime degree to be solvable by radicals, and Abel's
theorem about ruler-and-compass constructions on the lemniscate.

A. Structure Of the Text. The text is divided into chapters and sections. We use
the following numbering conventions:
xvii
XVÜi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

• Theorems, lemmas, definitions, examples, etc., are numbered according to chapter

and section. For example, the third section of Chapter 7 is called Section 7.3. This
section begins with Theorem 7.3.1, Corollary 7.3.2, and Example 7.3.3.
• In contrast, equations are numbered according to the chapter. For example, (4.1)
means the first numbered equation of Chapter 4.
Sections are sometimes divided informally into subsections labeled A, B, C, etc. In
addition, many sections contain endnotes of two types:
• Mathematical Notes develop the ideas introduced in the section. Each idea is
announced with a small black square ■ .
• Historical Notes explain some of the history behind the concepts introduced in the
section.
The symbol ■ denotes the end of a proof or the absence of a proof, and <> denotes
the end of an example.
References in the text use one of two formats:
• References to the bibliography at the end of the book are given by the author's
last name, as in [Abel]. When there is more than one item by a given author, we
add numbers, as in [Jordan 1] and [Jordan2].
• Some more specialized references are listed at the end of the chapter in which
the reference occurs. These references are listed numerically, so that if you are
reading Chapter 10, then [1] means the first reference at the end ofthat chapter.
The text has numerous exercises, many more than can be assigned during an
actual course. Some of the exercises can be used as exam questions. Hints to
selected exercises can be found in Appendix B.
The algebra needed for the book is covered in Appendix A. Students should read
Sections A.l and A.2 before starting Chapter 1.
B. The Four Parts. The book is organized into four parts. Part I (Chapters 1 to 3)
focuses on polynomials. Here, we study cubic polynomials, symmetric polynomials
and prove the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra. In Part II (Chapters 4 to 7), the focus
shifts to fields, where we develop their basic properties and prove the Fundamental
Theorem of Galois Theory. Part III is concerned with the following applications of
Galois theory:
• Chapter 8 discusses solvability by radicals.
• Chapter 9 treats cyclotomic equations.
• Chapter 10 explores geometric constructions.
• Chapter 11 studies finite fields.
Finally, Part IV covers the following further topics:
• Chapter 12 discusses the work of Lagrange, Galois, and Kronecker.
• Chapter 13 explains how to compute Galois groups.
• Chapter 14 treats solvability by radicals for polynomials of prime power degree.
• Chapter 15 proves Abel's theorem on the lemniscate.
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION XIX

C. Notes to the Instructor. Many books on Galois theory have been strongly
influenced by Artin's thin but elegant presentation [Artin]. This book is different. In
particular:
• Symmetric polynomials and the Theorem of the Primitive Element are used to
prove some of the main results of Galois theory.
• The historical context of Galois theory is discussed in detail.
These choices reflect my personal preferences and my conviction that students need
to know what an idea really means and where it came from before they can fully
appreciate its elegance. The result is a book which is definitely not thin, though I
hope that the elegance comes through.
The core of the book consists of Parts I and II (Chapters 1 to 7). It should be
possible to cover this material in about 9 weeks, assuming three lectures per week.
In the remainder of the course, the instructor can pick and choose sections from Parts
III and IV. These chapters can also be used for reading courses, student projects, or
independent study.
Here are some other comments for the instructor:
• Sections labeled "Optional" can be skipped without loss of continuity. I sometimes
assign the optional section on Abelian equations (Section 6.5) as part of a take-
home exam.
• Students typically will have seen most but not all of the algebra in Appendix A.
My suggestion is to survey the class about what parts of Appendix A are new to
them. These topics can then be covered when needed in the text.
• For the most part, the Mathematical Notes and Historical Notes are not used in
the subsequent text, though I find that they stimulate some interesting classroom
discussions. The exception is Chapter 12, which draws on the Historical Notes of
earlier chapters.
D. Acknowledgments. The manuscript of this book was completed during a
Mellon 8 sabbatical funded by the Mellon Foundation and Amherst College. I am
very grateful for their support. I also want to express my indebtedness to the authors
of the many fine presentations of Galois theory listed at the end of the book.
I am especially grateful to Joseph Fineman, Walt Parry, Abe Shenitzer, and Jerry
Shurman for their careful reading of the manuscript. I would also like to thank
Kamran Divaani-Aazar, Harold Edwards, Alexander Hulpke, Teresa Krick, Barry
Mazur, John McKay, Norton Starr, and Siman Wong for their help.
The students who took courses at Amherst College based on preliminary versions
of the manuscript contributed many useful comments and suggestions. I thank them
all and dedicate this book to students (of all ages) who undertake the study of this
wonderful subject.

DAVID A. Cox
May 2004, Amherst, Massachusetts
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

For the second edition, the following changes have been made:
• Numerous typographical errors were corrected.
• Some exercises were dropped and others were added, a net gain of six.
• Section 13.3 contains a new subsection on the Galois group of irreducible separable
quartics in all characteristics, based on ideas of Keith Conrad.
• The discussion of Maple in Section 2.3 was updated.
• Sixteen new references were added.
• The notation section was expanded to include all notation used in the text.
• Appendix C on student projects was added at the end of the book.
I would like thank Keith Conrad for permission to include his treatment of quartics
in all characteristics in Section 13.3. Thanks also go to Alexander Hulpke for his help
in updating the references to Chapter 14, and to Takeshi Kajiwara and Akira lino for
the improved proof of Lemma 14.4.5 and for the many typos they found in preparing
the Japanese translation of the first edition. I also appreciate the suggestions made
by the reviewers of the proposal for the second edition.
I am extremely grateful to the many readers who sent me comments and typos
they found in thefirstedition. There are too many to name here, but be assured that
you have my thanks. Any errors in the second edition are my responsibility.
xxi
XXII PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Here is a chart that shows the relation between the 15 chapters and the 4 parts of
the book:

Part III

Part IV

Information about the book, including typo lists, can be found at

http://www.cs.amherst.edu/~dac/galois.html

As always, comments and corrections are welcome.

DAVID A. Cox

December 2011, Amherst, Massachusetts

NOTATION

1 BASIC NOTATION

Standard Rings and Fields. We use the following standard notation:

Z ring of integers,
Q field of rational numbers,
R field of real numbers,
C field of complex numbers.

Sets. We use the usual notation for union U and intersection Π, and we define

A\B={xeA\x£B},
\S\ = the number of elements in a finite set S.

We write A C B to indicate that A is a subset of B. (Some texts write A C B for an

arbitrary subset and reserve A c B for the case when A is strictly smaller than B. We
do not follow this practice.) Thus A = B if and only if A C B and B cA. Finally,
given sets A and B, their Cartesian product is

AxB={(a,b)\aeA,beB}.
xxiii
XXIV NOTATION

Functions. A function / : A —> B is sometimes denoted x \-> f(x). Also, a one-to-

one onto map (a one-to-one correspondence) is often written
f:A~B.
If S is any set, then the identity map
h.S^S
is defined by s h-> s for s G 5. Also, given / : A -» #, we have:
/| A : Ao —>· # restriction of / to Ao C A,
/(Ao) = {/(a) | a G A0} image of Ao C A under / ,
l
f~ (B0) = {aeA\ f(a) £Bo} inverse image ofBoCB under / .

The Integers. For integers a,b,n G Z with n > 0, we define:

<z|& £ is an integer multiple of a,
a|b bis not an integer multiple of 0,
a = 1? mod n n\a — b,
gcd(a, b) greatest common divisor ofa,b,
lcm(a, b) least common multiple of a, &,
0(n) = | (Z/nZ)* | Euler 0-function.
The Complex Numbers. Properties of C are reviewed in Section A.2. Also:
Re(z), Im(z) real and imaginary parts of z G C,
z, |z| complex conjugate and absolute value of z G C,
i6>
e = cos Θ +1 sin 0 Euler's formula,
z = \z\el6 polar representation of z G C,
27 n
Cn = e "/ primitive nth root of unity
l
S = {e w
| Θ G M} unit circle in C ~ E 2 .
Groups. Basic properties of groups are reviewed in Section A.l. Also:
o(g) order of an element g eG,
(S) subgroup generated by S C G,
gH, Hg left and right cosets of subgroup Z / c G ,
G/H quotient of group G by normal subgroup H,
5n symmetric group on n letters,
An alternating group on n letters,
Din dihedral group of order 2«,
sgn(a) sign of σ e Sn,
Ker(y>), Ιτη(φ) kernel and image of group homomorphism φ.
 CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER NOTATION XXV

Rings. Basic properties of rings are reviewed in Section A.l. Also:

Ker(<p), Im((^) kernel and image of ring homomorphism φ,

(ri,..., rn) ideal generated by rx,..., rn e R,
R/I quotient of ring R by ideal /,
R* group of units of a ring R.

2 CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER NOTATION

Here we list the notation introduced in each chapter of the text, followed by the page
number where the notation is defined. Many of these items appear in the index, which
lists other important pages where the notation is used.

Chapter 1 Notation.

ω = ζ3 primitive cube root of unity 6

D = q2 + 4/?3/27 quantity appearing in Cardan's formula 11
Δ = -27D discriminant of v3 + py + q 12

Chapter 2 Notation.

F [x\,..., xn] polynomial ring in variables x\,...,xn over F 26

deg(/) total degree of/ eF[xu... ,*„] \ {0} 26
F (x\,..., xn) field of rational functions in * i , . . . , xn over F 26
σ\,..., ση elementary symmetric polynomials 27
Ση χ"χ · · · x"n symmetric polynomial built from JC^1 · · · x„n 33
xn —σ\χη~ l-\ h (— 1 )ηση universal polynomial of degree n 37
Δ, Λ / Δ universal discriminant and its square root 46
Δ ( / ) discriminant of / e F[x] 47

Chapter 3 Notation.

F CL L is an extension field of F 58

Chapter 4 Notation.

Φ„ (χ) nth cyclotomic polynomial 75

F[a\,..., an] subring generated by F and OL\ ,..., an €. L 75
F(a\,..., an) subfield generated by F and a\,..., an e L 76
¥p = Z/pZ finite field with p elements, p prime 84
[L: F] degree of field extension F <ZL 89
<Q> field of algebraic numbers 96
XXVI NOTATION

Chapter 5 Notation.
Res (/, g, JC) resultant of / , g G F [x] 115

Chapter 6 Notation.

Gal (L/F) Galois group of extension F CL 125

AGL( 1, Fp) one-dimensional affine linear group 137
F(a\,..., ση) C F(x\ ,...,*„) universal extension 138

Chapter 7 Notation.

L# fixed field of H c Gal(L/F) 147

σ/ίΓ conjuate field of F c tf C L for σ G Gal (L/F) 154
NQ (H) normalizer of subgroup H CG 159
GL(2, F) general linear group of F 2 178
PGL(2, F) projective linear group of F 2 179
F, C FU{oo}, CU{oo} 180
S2 unit sphere in R3 180
Rot(52) rotation group of S2 181

Chapter 8 Notation.

K\K2CL compositum ofKuK2CL 198

_/ _2i 2
β + C σ{β) + C ^ (/?) + ' * * Lagrange resolvent 203

Chapter 9 Notation.

ζη = el7ri/n primitive nth root of unity 229

Φη (χ) nth cyclotomic polynomial 229
ef = p — 1 factorization of p — 1, p prime 238
/// C (Z/pZy unique subgroup of order / 238
Lf C Q(CP) fixed field corresponding to Hf 238
(/, λ) /-period, primitive element of Lf 240

Chapter 10 Notation.

^ field of constructible numbers 257

& field of Pythagorean numbers 265
Fm = 2 r + 1 Fermat number 270
G field of origami numbers 277
 CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER NOTATION XXVI ί

Chapter 11 Notation.

^q = ^pn finite field with q = pn elements, p prime 293

Frobp Frobenius automorphism of ¥q 294
GL(n, F) general linear group of Fn 296
Nm number of monic degree m irreducible / G ¥p [JC] 301
μ(ή) Möbius function 302

Chapter 12 Notation.

θ(χ) resolvent polynomial of φ L = F(*i,...,JC n ) 317

Η(φ) C Sn isotropy group of φ G L = \xu...,xn) 318
* i + C _ / * 2 + C~2/*3 + ··· Lagrange resolvent 328
s(y) Galois resolvent 335
V = t\a\-\ \-tnan primitive element used by alois 336
9V, W", ΣΚ'",... algebraic quantities used b Kronecker 348

Chapter 13 Notation.

0/(y) Ferrari resolvent of quartic / 358

0f(y) sextic resolvent of quintic / 373
&/(y) general resolvent o f / 387
Dfiy) quadratic resolvent o f / , replaces discriminant 390
D(f), D'(f) roots of Df(y) 390
SL(«,F) special linear group of F" 396
PGL(«,F) projective linear group of Fn 396
PSL(n,F) projective special linear group of F" 396
*u(y) Kronecker resolvent 401

Chapter 14 Notation.
AIB wreath product of groups A and B 421
AGL(n, ¥q) n-dimensional affine linear group 430
ArL(n, F^) n-dimensional affine semilinear group 431
S(T) symmetry group of set T 433
M\, M2, M3 subgroups of Sp2 from Section 14.4 444,445,450

Chapter 15 Notation.

w one-half of arc length of lemniscate 466

r = <p(j) Abel's lemniscatic function, s G R 467
Pn (u), Qn (") n-division polynomials, n > 0 in Z 476
xxviii NOTATION

φ(ζ) complex lemniscatic function, z E C 482

ρ(ζ;ωι,ω2) Weierstrass p-function 487
Z[i] ring of Gaussian integers 490
Ρβ (w), Qß(«) ^-division polynomials, ß e Z[/] 492
PARTI

POLYNOMIALS

The first three chapters focus on polynomials and their roots.

We begin in Chapter 1 with cubic polynomials. The goal is to derive Cardan's
formulas and to see how the permutations of the roots influence things.
Then, in Chapter 2, we learn how to express the coefficients of a polynomial as
certain symmetric polynomials in the roots. This leads to questions about describing
all symmetric polynomials. We also discuss the discriminant.
Finally, in Chapter 3, we show that all polynomials have roots in a possibly larger
field. We also prove the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, which asserts that the
roots of a polynomial with complex coefficients are complex numbers.
CHAPTER 1

CUBIC EQUATIONS

The quadratic formula states that the solutions of a quadratic equation

ax2 + bx + c = 0, a,b,ceC, a^O

are given by

-b±Vb2-4ac
(1.1) *= .

In this chapter we will consider a cubic equation

ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0, a,b,c,deC, α^Ο,

and we will show that the solutions of this equation are given by a similar though
somewhat more complicated formula. Finding the formula will not be difficult, but
understanding where it comes from and what it means will lead to some interesting
questions.
Galois Theory, Second Edition. By David A. Cox 3
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
4 CUBIC EQUATIONS

1.1 CARDAN'S FORMULAS

Given a cubic equation ax3 + bx2 + ex + d = 0 with a φ 0, we first divide by a to

rewrite the equation as

x3+bx2 + cx + d = 0, fc,c,deC,

where b/a, c/a, and d/a have been replaced with b, c, and <i, respectively. Observe
that x3 + 2?JC2 + ex + d is a monic polynomial and that reducing to the monic case has
no effect on the roots.
The next step is to remove the coefficient of x2 by the substitution

The binomial theorem implies that

b
2 2 „ ( b \2 2 2b
b2
x 2y + y +
=y- 3 \3) = y - j r
2 3
^=,3-34 + 3^) -(|) =,3-^4,-g,
so that

{ -\ , Ύ b2 b3\ / 2 2b b 2\ ( b\ J

If we collect terms, then we can write the resulting equation in y as

y3+py+q = o,

where

b2

2b3 be ,
qa= Yd.
27 3
You will verify the details of this calculation in Exercise 1.
We call a cubic of the form y 3 + py + q = 0 a reduced cubic. If we can find
the roots yi,y2,y3 of the reduced cubic, then we get the roots of the original cubic
x3 + bx2 + ex + d = 0 by adding — b/3 to each y,.
To solve y 3 + py + q = 0, we use the substitution

(1.3) , = *-£.
 CARDAN'S FORMULAS 5

This change of variable has a dramatic effect on the equation. Using the binomial
theorem again, we obtain

2 /„\3 „ n2 p3

'-*-*£+><£)Hi)-*-"+'*-
3z \3zJ V3z/ 3z y
27z 3 '
Combining this with (1.3) gives

^ + Py + ^(z3-pZ+Tz-^)+P(Z-Tz)+q = z3
-^
Multiplying by z3, we conclude that y3 + py + q = 0 is equivalent to the equation

(1.4) z6 + qz>-!^=0.

This equation is the cubic resolvent of the reduced cubic y3 + py + # = 0.

At first glance, (1.4) might not seem useful, since we have replaced a cubic
equation with one of degree 6. However, upon closer inspection, we see that the
cubic resolvent can be written as

(z3)2 + <?z 3 -g = 0.
By the quadratic formula (1.1), we obtain

Z3:
K-^^f)·
so that

0.5) z = \ L· (-q±\q2 + 27/

Substituting this into (1.3) gives a root of the reduced cubic y3 +py + q, and then
x = y — b/3 is a root of the cubic x3 + bx2 + ex + d.
However, before we can claim to have solved the cubic, there are several questions
that need to be answered:
• By setting y3 + py + q = 0, we essentially assumed that a solution exists. What
justifies this assumption?
• A cubic equation has three roots, yet the cubic resolvent has degree 6. Why?
• The substitution (1.3) assumes that z φ 0. What happens when z = 0?
• y3 + Py + 4 n a s coefficients in C, since b,c,d e C. Thus (1.5) involves square
roots and cube roots of complex numbers. How are these described?
The first bullet will be answered in Chapter 3 when we discuss the existence of roots.
The second bullet will be considered in Section 1.2, though the ultimate answer will
6 CUBIC EQUATIONS

involve Galois theory. For the rest of this section, we will concentrate on the last two
bullets. Our strategy will be to study the formula (1.5) in more detail.
First assume that p φ 0 in the reduced cubic v3 +py + q. By Section A.2, every
nonzero complex number has n distinct nth roots when n G Z is positive. In (1.5),
the ± in the formula indicates that a nonzero complex number has two square roots.
Similarly, the cube root symbol denotes any of the three cube roots of the complex
number under the radical. To understand these cube roots, we use the cube roots of
unity 1, ζ3, ζ2 from Section A.2. We will write ζ3 as ω. Recall that

/■ 27Π/3 -1+Λ/3
ω = G3 = e ' =
^ 2
and that given one cube root of a nonzero complex number, we get the other two cube
roots by multiplying by ω and ω2.
We can now make sense of (1.5). Let

«»+£
27
denote a fixed square root of q2 + 4/?3/27 G C. With this choice of square root, let

z\ ißH^W)
denote a fixed cube root of \ (— q + y/q2 + 4p3/27). Then we get the other two cube
roots by multiplying by ω and ω2. Note also that p φ 0 implies that z\ φ 0 and that
Z\ is a root of the cubic resolvent (1.4). It follows easily that if we set

then

(1.6) y\ =z\+Z2 = z\- —

3zi
is a root of the reduced cubic v3 + py + q.
To understand zi, observe that

Ζ 2 Ζ
^~Λ 3ζι) " 27*
An easy calculation shows that

i-K--V^¥)-K-+^¥)-K--v^¥)-4
Since z\ φ 0, these formulas imply that

1
«ä-K-W« ^)·
 CARDAN'S FORMULAS 7

Hence zi = —p/3z\ is a cube root of \ i—q — y/q2 + 4p3/27), so that

are cube roots with the property that their product is — p/3.
From (1.6), we see that y{ = z\ + zi is a root of v3 + py + q when z\ and zi are
the above cube roots. To get the other roots, note that (1.6) gives a root of the
cubic whenever the cube roots are chosen so that their product is —p/3 (be sure you
understand this). For example, if we use the cube root ωζι, then
2 P
ωζ\·ωΔΖ2=Ζ\Ζ2 = - -

shows that j2 = ωζ\ + ω2ζι is also a root. Similarly, using the cube root ω2ζ\ shows
that V3 = ω2ζ\ + ωζι is a third root of the reduced cubic.
By (1.7), it follows that the three roots of v3 + py + q = 0 are given by

provided the cube roots in (1.7) are chosen so that their product is —p/3. These are
Cardan's formulas for the roots of the reduced cubic y3 + py + q.

Example 1.1.1 For the reduced cubic v3 + 3y 4-1, consider the real cube roots

\ A ( - l + v^) and i/\(-l-V5).

Their product is — 1 = —p/3, so by Cardan's formulas, the roots of y 3 + 3y + 1 are

y,= i/i(-l + V5)+ ^i(-l-VS),

2
Λ =ω ^(-1+^)+^\/2(- 1 -ν / 5)·
Note that y i is real. In Exercise 2 you will show that yi and y3 are complex conjugates
of each other. <>

Although Cardan's formulas only apply to a reduced cubic, we get formulas for
the roots of an arbitrary monic cubic polynomial x3 + bx2 + ex + d G C[x] as follows.
8 CUBIC EQUATIONS

The substitution x = y — b/3 gives the reduced cubic y3 + py + q = 0, where p and q

are as in (1.2). If z\ and Z2 are the cube roots in Cardan's formulas for y3 + py + # = 0,
then the roots of JC3 + to2 + ex + d = 0 are given by
ft
X\ = - T + Z l + Z 2 ,

* 2
*2 = - τ + ω ζ ι + α ; ζι,
b 2
*3 = - χ + ω Ζι+ωζ 2 ,
where z\ and Z2 from (1.7) satisfy z\Zi = — p/3. Our derivation assumed p^O, but
these formulas give the correct roots even when p = 0 (see Exercise 3).
We will eventually see that Cardan's formulas make perfect sense from the point
of view of Galois theory. For example, the quantity under the square root in (1.5) is

«2 + ^ .
* 27
Up to a constant factor, this is the discriminant of the polynomial y3 + py + q. We
will give a careful definition of discriminant in Section 1.2, and Section 1.3 will show
that the discriminant gives useful information about the roots of a real cubic.
Here is an example of a puzzle that arises when using Cardan's formula.

Example 1.1.2 The cubic equation y3 - 3y = 0 has roots y = 0, ±V3, all of which
are real. When we apply Cardan's formulas, we begin with

*=^(-o+V575p)=tf.
To pick a specific value for z\, notice that (—i)3 = i, so that we can take z\ = — i.
Thus zi = —p/3z\ = i, since p = —3. Then Cardan's formulas give the roots

y\ = - / + i = 0,

y3 =ω2(-ϊ)+ω(ϊ) = -V3.
(You will verify the last two formulas in Exercise 4.) <>

The surprise is that Cardan's formulas express the real roots of y3 — 3y in terms of
complex numbers. In Section 1.3, we will prove that for any cubic with distinct real
roots, Cardan's formulas always involve complex numbers.

Historical Notes

The quadratic formula is very old, dating back to the Babylonians, circa 1700 B.c.
Cubic equations were first studied systematically by Islamic mathematicians such as
 CARDAN'S FORMULAS 9

Omar Khayyam, and by the Middle Ages cubic equations had become a popular topic.
For example, when Leonardo of Pisa (also known as Fibonacci) was introduced to
Emperor Frederick II in 1225, Fibonacci was asked to solve two problems, the second
of which was the cubic equation

JC3 + 2JC 2 +10JC = 2 0 .

Fibonacci's solution was

+
Vi+ —2 + —3 + —4 + —5 + —
6
60 60 60 60 60 60 '
In decimal notation, this gives x = 1.368808107853..., which is correct to 10 decimal
places. Not bad for 787 years ago!
Challenges and contests involving cubic equations were not uncommon during
the Middle Ages, and one such contest played a crucial role in the development of
Cardan's formula. Early in the sixteenth century, Scipio del Ferro found a solution
for cubics of the form JC3 + bx = c, where b and c are positive. His student Florido
knew this solution, and in 1535, Florido challenged Niccolö Fontana (also known as
Tartaglia) to a contest involving 30 cubic equations. Working feverishly in preparation
for the contest, Tartaglia worked out the solution of this and other cases, and went
on to defeat Florido. In 1539, Tartaglia told his solution to Girolamo Cardan (or
Cardano), who published it in 1545 in his book Ars Magna (see [2]).
Rather than present one solution to the cubic, as we have done here, Cardan's
treatment in Ars Magna requires 13 cases. For example, Chapter XIV considers
3 2
JC3 + 64 = 18JC2, and Chapter XV does x + 6x = 40. The reason is that Cardan
prefers positive coefficients. However, he makes systematic use of the substitution
x = y — b/3 to getridof the coefficient of JC2, and Cardan was also aware that complex
numbers can arise in solutions of quadratic equations.
Numerous other people worked to simplify and understand Cardan's solution. In
1550, Rafael Bombelli considered more carefully the role of complex solutions (see
Section 1.3), and in two papers published posthumously in 1615, Francis Viete (or
Vieta, in Latin) introduced the substitution (1.3) used in our derivation of Cardan's
formulas and gave the trigonometric solution to be discussed in Section 1.3 .
In addition to the cubic, Ars Magna also contained a solution for the quartic
equation due to Lodovico (or Luigi) Ferrari, a student of Cardan's. We will discuss
the solution of the quartic in Chapter 12.

Exercises for Section 1.1

Exercise 1. Complete the demonstration (begun in the text) that the substitution x = y — b/3
transforms JC3 + bx2 + cx + d into y3 + py + q, where p and q are given by (1.2).
Exercise 2. In Example 1.1.1, show that>>2 and y?> are complex conjugates of each other.
Exercise 3. Show that Cardan's formulas give the roots of y3 4- py + q when p = 0.
Exercise 4. Verify the formulas for yi and yz in Example 1.1.2.
10 CUBIC EQUATIONS

Exercise 5. The substitution x = y — b/3 can be adapted to other equations as follows.

(a) Show that x = y — b/2 getsridof the coefficient of x in the quadratic equation x2 + bx+c =
0. Then use this to derive the quadratic formula.
(b) For the quartic equation x4 + bx3 + ex2 + dx + e = 0, what substitution should you use to
get rid of the coefficient of*3?
(c) Explain how part (b) generalizes to a monic equation of degree n.
Exercise 6. Consider the equation x3 + x — 2 = 0. Note that x = 1 is a root.
(a) Use Cardan's formulas (carefully) to derive the surprising formula

1= 1+
V \{{+il-\^y
=
(b) Show that 1 + | \ / | (έ "*" I \ / l ) » a n c * u s e t m ^ t o 6 Χ Ρ ^ η m e result of part (a).
Exercise 7. Cardan's formulas, as stated in the text, express the roots as sums of two cube
roots. Each cube root has three values, so there are nine different possible values for the sum
of the cube roots. Show that these nine values are the roots of the equations y3 + py + q = 0,
y3 + upy + q = 0, and y3 + oj2py + q = 0, where as usual ω = \ (— 1 + iy/3).
Exercise 8. Use Cardan's formulas to solve y3 + 3uy + 1 = 0 .

1.2 PERMUTATIONS OF THE ROOTS

In Section 1.1 we learned that the roots of x3 + bx2 + ex + d = 0 are given by

b
Χ\ = --+Z1+Z2,
b 2
(1.8) χ2 = --+ωζ\+ω ζ2,
b 2
Χ3 = - - + ω ζι+ωζ2,

where z\ and zi are the cube roots (1.7) chosen so that z\Zi = —p/3> We also know
that z\ is a root of the cubic resolvent

(1-9) z6 + qz3-^=0,

and in Exercise 1 you will show that zi is also a root of (1.9). The goal of this section
is to understand more clearly the relation between JCI,*2,JC3 and z\,Z2- We will learn
that permutations, the discriminant, and symmetric polynomials play an important
role in these formulas.

A. Permutations. We begin by observing that we can use (1.8) to express z\ ,Z2 in

terms of x\ ,Χ2,Χ3. We do this by multiplying the second equation by ω2 and the third
by ω. When we add the three resulting equations, we obtain

x\ + ω2χ2 + ωχ3 = - (1 + ω2 + ω) - + 3ζ\ + (1 + ω + ω2)ζ2·

 PERMUTATIONS OF THE ROOTS 11

However, ω is a root of x 3 — 1 = (JC — 1) (x2 + x + 1), which implies 1 + ω + ω2 = 0.

Thus the above equation simplifies to
x\ + ω2Χ2 + ωχ3 = 3ζι,
so that
Z\ = -(x\ +ω2χ2 + ωχ3).
Similarly, multiplying the second equation of (1.8) by ω and the third by ω2 leads to
the formula
Zi = -{χ\+ωχ2 + ω x3).
This shows that the roots z\ and zi of the cubic resolvent can be expressed in terms
of the roots of the original cubic. However, z\ and zi are only two of the six roots of
(1.9). What about the other four? In Exercise 1 you will show that the roots of the
cubic resolvent (1.9) are
zi, Z2, ωζι, ωζι, ω2ζ\, ω2ζι,
and that these roots are given in terms of x\ ,JC2,*3 by
z\ = \(χ\+ω2Χ2 + ωχ3),
zi = ^(χ\+ω2Χ3+ωχ2),
ωζ\ = \(χ2 + ω2Χ3+ωχι),
( L 1 0 )
i/ 2
wzi = ^(*3+ω Χ2 + ωχ\),
ω2ζ\ = \{χ3 + ω2χ\ +ωχ2),
ω2Ζ2 = UX2 + 0J2X{ +UJX3).

These expressions for the roots of the resolvent all look similar. What lies behind
this similarity is the following crucial fact: The six roots of the cubic resolvent are
obtained from z\ by permuting JCI,JC2,JC3. Hence the symmetric group 53 now enters
the picture.
From an intuitive point of view, this is reasonable, since labeling the roots x\, *2, JC3
simply lists them in one particular order. If we list the roots in a different order, then
we should still get a root of the resolvent. This also explains why the cubic resolvent
has degree 6, since IS3I = 6.

B. The Discriminant. We can also use (1.10) to get a better understanding of the
square root that appears in Cardan's formulas. If we set

D
(in) = q2 +
%'

then we can write z\ and Z2 as

12 CUBIC EQUATIONS

We claim that D can be expressed in terms of the roots JCI , JC2, JC3. To see why, note
that the above formulas imply that

z\-z\ = \(-q + VD)-\(-q-VD) = ^.

However, (A. 15) gives the factorization

(1.13) z]-z\ = (zi -z2)(z\ -ωζι)(ζ\ -ω2ζι)^

Using (1.10), we obtain

z\-zi = \(x\ + ω2Χ2 + ωχ$) - \{x\ + ωχ2 + ω2χ3)

= \{ω2-ω)(χ2-Χ3)

where the last line uses ω2 — ω = — iy/3. Similarly, one can show that

(1.14)
Ζ\-ω2Ζ2 = ^(x\-X2)

(see Exercise 2). Combining these formulas with z\ — z\ = VD and (1.13) easily
implies that

(1.15) VÖ = -Tjz(xi -X2)(x\ -xs)(x2 -X3).

If we square this formula for \[D and combine it with (1.11), we obtain

(1.16) ςι +^ = -λ(Χι-Χ2γ(Χι-Χ3γ(Χ2-Χ3γ.
It is customary to define the discriminant of x3 + bx2 + ex + d to be

Δ = (χι -X2)2(X\ -X3)2{X2-X3)2·

Thus Δ is the product of the squares of the differences of the roots. In this notation
we can write (1.16) as

(M7) * + % - - * * ■

Then (1.12) becomes

(1.18) Zl = ^l(-i+v^Ä) and Ζ2 = ^ » ( - ί - ^ ) .

Substituting this into (1.8), we get a version of Cardan's formulas which uses the
square root of the discriminant.
 PERMUTATIONS OF THE ROOTS 13

The discriminant is also important in the quadratic case. By the quadratic formula,
the roots of x1 + bx + c are

-b + y/K J -b-VÄ
χχ = and x2 = ,

where Δ = b2 — Ac is the discriminant. This makes it easy to see that

yfK = x\-X2 and Δ = (JCI - X2)2.

Thus the discriminant is the square of the difference of the roots. In Chapter 2 we
will study the discriminant of a polynomial of degree n.

C. Symmetric Polynomials. We begin with two interesting properties of

Δ = (*i -X2)2(XI -X3)2(X2-X3)2.

First suppose that we permute JCI,JC2,*3 in this formula. The observation is that no
matter how we do this, we will still have the product of the squares of the differences
of the roots. This shows that Δ is unchanged by permutations of the roots. In the
language of Chapter 2 we say that Δ is symmetric in the roots JCI , *2, JC3.
Second, we can also express Δ in terms of the coefficients of x3 -f bx2 + ex + d.
By (1.17), we know that Δ = —Ap3 — 21 q2. However, we also have

b2
(1.19) i
2b3 be J
a=
q Yd
27 3
by Exercise 1 of Section 1.1. If we substitute these into (1.17), then a straightforward
calculation shows that

(1.20) Δ = b2c2 + 1 Sbcd - Ac3 - 4b3d - 21 d2

(see Exercise 3). When b = 0, it follows that x3 + ex + d has discriminant

A = -4c3-21d2.

This will be useful in Section 1.3.

The above formula expresses the discriminant in terms of the coefficients of the
original equation, just as the discriminant of x2 + bx + c = 0 is Δ = b2 — Ac. The
Fundamental Theorem of Symmetric Polynomials, to be proved in Chapter 2, will
imply that any symmetric polynomial in JCI,*2,JC3 can be expressed in terms of the
coefficients b,c,d. In order to see why b,c,d are so important, note that if JCI,JC2,JC3
are the roots of x3 + bx2 + cx + d, then

x3 + bx2 + ex + d = (x — x\)(x — X2)(x — X3)·

14 CUBIC EQUATIONS

Multiplying out the right-hand side and comparing coefficients leads to the following
formulas for b,c,d:

b=-(x\+X2+X3)j
(1.21) C= X\X2 +X\X3 + * 2 * 3 ,
d = —JC1JC2JC3.

These formulas show that the coefficients of a cubic can be expressed as symmetric
functions of its roots. The polynomials b, c, d are (up to sign) the elementary
symmetric polynomials of JCI , x2, *3· These polynomials (and their generalization to
an arbitrary number of variables) will play a crucial role in Chapter 2.

Mathematical Notes

One aspect of the text needs further discussion.

■ Algebra versus Abstract Algebra. High school algebra is very different from a
course on groups, rings, and fields, yet both are called "algebra." The evolution of
algebra can be seen in the difference between Section 1.1, where we used high school
algebra, and this section, where questions about the underlying structure (why does
the cubic resolvent have degree 6?) led us to realize the importance of permutations.
Many concepts in abstract algebra came from high school algebra in this way.

Historical Notes

In 1770 and 1771, Lagrange's magnificent treatise Reflexions sur la resolution

algebrique des equations appeared in the Nouvelles Memoires de Γ Academie royale
des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Berlin. This long paper covers pages 205-421 in
Volume 3 of Lagrange's collected works [Lagrange]. It is a leisurely account of the
known methods for solving equations of degree 3 and 4, together with an analysis of
these methods from the point of view of permutations. Lagrange wanted to determine
whether these methods could be adapted to equations of degree > 5.
One of Lagrange's powerful ideas is that one should study the roots of a polynomial
without regard to their possible numerical value. When dealing with functions of the
roots, such as
!/ 2
z\ = -{χ\+ω χ2+ωχ3)
from (1.10), Lagrange says that he is concerned "only with the form" of such expres-
sions and not "with their numerical quantity" [Lagrange, Vol. 3, p. 385]. In modern
terms, Lagrange is saying that we should regard the roots as variables. We will learn
more about this idea when we discuss the universal polynomial in Chapter 2.
We will see in Chapter 12 that many basic ideas from group theory and Galois
theory are implicit in Lagrange's work. However, Lagrange's approach fails when
the roots take on specific numerical values. This is part of why Galois's work is so
important: he was able to treat the case when the roots were arbitrary. The ideas of
 CUBIC EQUATIONS OVER THE REAL NUMBERS 15

Galois, of course, are the foundation of what we now call Galois theory. This will be
the main topic of Chapters 4-7.

Exercises for Section 1.2

Exercise 1. Let z\,zi be the roots of (1.9) chosen at the beginning of the section.
(a) Show that z\, zi, ωζ\, ωζι, ω2ζ\, ω2ζι are the six roots of the cubic resolvent.
(b) Prove (1.10).
Exercise 2. Prove (1.14) and (1.15).
Exercise 3. Prove (1.20).
Exercise 4. We say that a cubic * 3 + bx2 + ex + d has a multiple root if it can be written as
(JC — n ) 2 (JC — n). Prove that JC3 + bx2 -f ex+d has a multiple root if and only if its discriminant
is zero.
Exercise 5. Since Δ = (x\ -JC2)2(JCI —X^)2(XI -JC3)2, we can define the square root of Δ to
be Λ/Δ = (JCI — JC2)(JCI — JC3)(JC2 — JC3). Prove that an even permutation of the roots takes Λ/Δ
to Λ/Δ while an odd permutation takes y/Δ to —y/Ä. In Section 2.4 we will see that this
generalizes nicely to the case of degree n.

1.3 CUBIC EQUATIONS OVER THE REAL NUMBERS

The final topic of this chapter concerns cubic equations with coefficients in the
field R of real numbers. As in Section 1.1, we can reduce to equations of the form
y3 + py + <1 = 0» where p, q G R. Then Cardan's formulas show that the roots y\, y2, ^3
lie in the field C of complex numbers. We will show that the sign of the discriminant
of y3 + py + q = 0 tells us how many of the roots are real. We will also give an
unexpected application of trigonometry when the roots are all real.

A. The Number of Real Roots. The discriminant of y3 + py + q is

Δ = (yi -yif{y\ -y^)2{yi -^)2·

As we noted in the discussion following (1.20), Δ can be expressed as
(1.22) A = -4p3-21q2.
You will give a different proof of this in Exercise 1.
For the rest of the section we will assume that the cubic y3 + py + q has distinct
roots vi ,y2,;y3. It follows that the discriminant Δ is a nonzero real number. We next
show that the sign of Δ gives interesting information about the roots.
Theorem 1.3.1 Suppose that the polynomial y3 +py + q G R[y] has distinct roots
and discriminant Δ ^ Ο . Then:
(a) Δ > 0 if and only if the roots ofy3 +py + q = 0 are all real
(b) Δ < 0 if and only ify3+py + q = 0 has only one real root and the other two
roots are complex conjugates of each other.
Other documents randomly have
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Og—Son of
Fire
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Title: Og—Son of Fire

Author: Irving Crump

Illustrator: Charles Livingston Bull

Release date: December 31, 2019 [eBook #61061]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OG—SON OF

FIRE ***
 OG—SON OF FIRE

Beside him, shivering and whimpering, were two wolf cubs

 OG—SON OF FIRE

BY
IRVING CRUMP
AUTHOR OF “THE BOYS’ BOOK OF FIREMEN,”
“THE BOYS’ BOOK OF RAILROADS,” ETC.
Editor, Boys’ Life, The Boy Scouts’ Magazine

ILLUSTRATED BY
CHARLES LIVINGSTON BULL

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1946
Copyright, 1921, 1922
By IRVING CRUMP

Printed in U. S. A.
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Call of Cooked Meat 1
II The Fire Demon 10
III The Crack in the Earth 19
IV The First Camp Fire 31
V In Which the Wolf Becomes Dog 41
VI At Bay With the Wolf Pack 55
VII A Captive of the Tree People 61
VIII Scar Face the Terrible 74
IX Sacrificed to Sabre Tooth 86
X In the Dark of the Night 97
XI Fire 106
XII Stolen Flames 115
XIII The Wrath of the Fire Monster 126
XIV The Python’s Coils 136
XV Smothering Darkness 146
XVI Wab is Cared For 156
XVII The Fire Lighter 161
XVIII Gog’s Treachery 177
XIX Gog Passes On 190
 ILLUSTRATIONS
Beside him, shivering and whimpering, were two wolf
cubs Frontispiece
PAGE
Og squatted down close at hand and watched them 48
The pack stopped. Og and his fire arrested them 56
Og beheld in the lower branches three big forms 64
The great creature carried him as easily as Og would
have carried a young goat 76
It was trying to trace the direction of an odor 94
The boulder, with a crunching noise, came out of its
insecure resting place 100
Then he proceeded with his skinning, while the wolf
cubs looked silently on 102
Great bats, almost as big as Og himself 138
The huge serpent raised its head and shining neck
aloft and glared about the cavern 142

OG—SON OF FIRE
 CHAPTER I
THE CALL OF COOKED MEAT

The earth rocked. The sky was of purple blackness. The

nauseating stench of burning sulphur filled the air. Thunder rumbled,
and growled constantly under the earth crust to be answered by
shattering crashes that seemed to come from the heavens, and with
each terrific impact a mountain vaguely outlined in the distance
trembled and shook and huge fissures opened down its side from
which bubbled out great clots of lurid red molten lava, the light of
which reflected on the billowing clouds of thick yellow smoke
vomiting from the crater. Off through the night like giant reptiles of
fire these streams of lava flowed, crawling slowly down the mountain
side, sliding around great bowlders, or pausing a moment to fill huge
cracks in the earth’s crust before proceeding on their serpentine way
into the valley, where a veritable molten lake of lava was slowly
forming. A great volcano after a lifetime of slumber had awakened.
Cowering, wild-eyed with fear, under the sheltering overhang of a
rugged cliff on a hillside far beyond the valley that was slowly filling
with lava, was a boy,—the sole human witness to this terrible
cataclysmic disturbance. Beside him shivering and whimpering were
two hairy, dog-like creatures, wolf-dog cubs, who, like the boy, had
sought the shelter of this massive rock hoping that here they would
in some way find a measure of protection in the face of this horrible
disaster. The boy was the only survivor of a colony of cliff dwelling
humans who had lived in the caves near by, but who had fled the
section in panic when the Fire Demon in the mountain had begun to
blast the earth by letting loose his fiery serpents from the mountain.
The wolf-dog cubs were all that were left of a pack of gray-black
hunters caught in the valley with the first outburst of the eruption,
and unable to gain the hillside where the cubs had been left by their
wary mother.
For the space of two suns and two starlights they had crouched
there. The boy guessed it was that long. They had seen neither sun
nor stars. Night and day had been the same under that curling
yellow smoke pall. Perhaps the Fire Demon had put out both the sun
and the stars and they would never shine again. The boy did not
know. He did know that he was tired and that he had missed many
sleeps. Despite his fear, which still gripped him, his eyes would close
and his head would fall forward even though he fought to keep
awake. If he had to die he wanted to see death come. He did not
want it to stalk upon him while he slept. But despite his
overwhelming fear, and his will power, which was strong for one of
his kind, sleep mastered him and finally in the face of this tornado of
smoke and fire that seemed to threaten destruction to the very earth
itself, his head dropped forward, his eyes closed and he slept the
dull, heavy sleep of utter physical exhaustion.
He slept in a very strange manner. He did not lie down flat as
human beings do to-day, nor did he curl up on his side as did the
wolf cubs. Instead he slept sitting on his haunches, his body drawn
in and his drooping though muscular shoulders hunched over his
knees. His head had dropped forward between his knees and his big,
long-fingered hands were clasped across the back of his neck. Why
he slept thus he did not know. It seemed to him the most natural
and most comfortable position. He could not understand that he was
obeying the protective instincts of Nature; that his big hands were
clasped about the back of his neck to protect the arteries and nerve
centers there, and that the long hair on the back of his hands and
forearms and upper arms grew in a manner that made all hairs point
downward when his arms were in this position, thus shedding rain or
moisture. It would require a long stretch of the imagination to
connect this being with the humans of to-day, 500,000 years
removed. His legs were short, being but a few inches longer than his
very long and very strong arms. His head was set on a pair of
sloping shoulders, massive for one of his short stature, and his neck
was thick and corded with muscles. His ears were small and he had
perfect control over them, for this hairy boy had very acute senses.
His nose he controlled the same way, his nostrils dilating or
contracting to gather in new odors, or shut out those that were
strong and offensive to his delicate sense of smell. His mouth was
strong and well armed with short, strong teeth. His jaw was broad
and massive; a trifle too large for his head it seemed. His eyes were
brown and set far apart under almost shaggy, bushing brows, and
his forehead was broad and high for one of his race.
For hours this primitive boy slept, and although his quick ears and
sensitive nose gathered in every new sound and odor, they failed to
register on the dulled brain, so great was his exhaustion. Likewise
the two wolf-dog cubs, snuggled close to his hairy hips for warmth,
slept, for they, too, were worn out beyond the point where they
could control their physical selves. And as they slept the clash of the
elements grew less violent. The thunder claps and rumblings
beneath the earth’s surface became less frequent and gradually
ceased entirely, the sulphuric yellow smoke pall thinned out enough
to let the sun, a huge round ball of fire it seemed through the thick
yellow mist, shine dimly. The volcano now threw out great plumes of
white steam. The lava ceased to bubble over the sides of the crater,
and the lurid red streams that coursed down its sides began to lose
their color and likewise their motion. They were cooling into solid
masses.
It was hunger that finally awoke the hairy boy. For many days and
nights he had been without food. The first day of his refuge under
the overhanging cliff he was secretly glad to find the wolf cubs
there. They insured him against starvation. But during the wild hours
that followed he thought very little of his stomach. Only once did he
realize that he was hungry, but when he faced the situation of killing
one of the cubs he hesitated. Not through any sense of honor, or
because of any sentiment, for as yet he possessed very little of
either. He hesitated at killing either of them for the simple reason
that alive they afforded companionship. Dead and eaten he would be
alone and he feared to be alone in the face of this overpowering
disaster that seemed to threaten him.
Awakening, however, and noting with a sense of relief that the
disturbance was over and that the volcano was slowly settling back
to normal, his fear began to leave him and he began to pay more
attention to the hunger pangs that assailed his gaunt stomach. He
looked down at the wolf cubs, still sleeping, huddled close to his
side; then lest they awaken, because his eyes were on them, as he
knew they would, he reached out swiftly with two hairy hands and
grabbed the cubs by the nape of the neck. They awoke with
frightened yelps and forthwith began kicking and snapping.
The hairy boy lifted them into the air and watched them struggle
while just the ghost of a grim smile puckered the corners of his
mouth and eyes. He needed but to close the grip of his strong
fingers on their throats and in a few minutes they would be choked
to death. Then he would tear the hide from their bodies with the aid
of his teeth and a sharp stone or two, and his meal would be ready.
Many times before had he gnawed the flesh of wolf cubs from the
bone, and while he did not like it as well as he did the flesh of the
wild horse, or the great moose, or bison, that had been the meat of
his people, he knew that it would taste wonderful under the
circumstances.
But while he sat there holding the squalling, kicking cubs at arm’s
length his attention was suddenly arrested by an odor that was
almost overpowering in its appeal. Instead of the acrid stinging smell
of the sulphur smoke there came to him an odor that was laden with
the meat scent, yet it was so subtly different, so irresistible, that his
mouth began to drool water from the corners, while his eyes grew
big and round. Transfixed he slowly dropped the wolf cubs to the
stone ledge, although he kept restraining fingers wound in the hair
of their necks. He did not mean to lose a possible meal by letting
them get away but he did not want to eat them if he could possibly
find the origin of this delightful hunger smell. For a long time he sat
there under the cliff, his nostrils working furiously to catch every
subtler scent of this enticing odor. His ears were cocked forward as if
he hoped that they too might help him locate the source of this
wonderful food smell.
As for the wolf-dog cubs, they were famished too, and the odor
was just as overpowering to them. Their feet once more on the
ground, they paid small heed to the restraining fingers about their
necks. Their black noses were pointed up the wind and they were
sniffing eagerly and whining too and saliva was dripping from their
mouths.
Although none of the three knew it, they were for the first time
smelling roasted meat. Somewhere down there in the valley animals
had been trapped in the lava, killed and cooked, but since no one of
the hairy boy’s tribe had ever mastered fire he did not know what
cooked meat really was. He did know, however, as he sat there on
the ledge, that never in his life had he smelled anything that made
him so hungry as this odor did; indeed it was so overpowering that it
presently made him forget the wolf cubs, the danger of the Fire
Demon in the volcano, the fear that was always constant in his
people of going very far from the cave or sheltering rock save in
packs or droves, and everything else, and almost before he knew
what he was about he began to climb from the shelf or rock under
the cliff and make his way down the hillside into the steam filled
valley of the hot lava, a place where he never in the world would
have had the courage or temerity to venture were it not for that
intoxicating odor that grew stronger and stronger into his nostrils as
he descended the hillside.
 CHAPTER II
THE FIRE DEMON

The hairy boy followed the wolf cubs. These half famished
animals, once released, were even quicker than he was in
scrambling off of the ledge and down the hillside. The boy watched
them go and followed after them at a remarkably swift pace
considering his short legs. He walked stooped over as if his massive
shoulders and head were too heavy for his stocky legs to carry, and
when he scrambled over rocks he occasionally stooped very low and
used his long arms as forelegs, resting the weight of his body on
clenched hands, the knuckles of which were used as the soles of his
forefeet. But this was only occasionally. He preferred to walk on two
feet, although it did seem to be an effort. He did not know, of
course, that he was only a few thousand years removed from
ancestors who walked on four feet and lived in trees and that his
group of hairy men were only just learning, comparatively speaking,
to stand erect.
As he shambled down the hill other sensations besides that of
hunger began to manifest themselves. He realized that he was
approaching the domains of the Fire Demon. The atmosphere grew
warmer, which troubled him a little. Then as he got further down the
hillside he found clouds of white steam swirling about on the wind.
These struck fear to his heart. Smoke or steam were agents of the
Fire Demon and to be avoided. He paused in his hurry and
wondered whether it was safe to go further. But still the intoxicating
odor assailed him and urged him on. He crouched beside a big rock
and watched with eager eyes the progress of the wolf cubs who
were making their way through the steamy mist with caution. Yet
they kept on, and the hairy boy seeing that nothing had yet
happened to them screwed up his courage and followed after them,
always watchful and alert.
The fog grew thicker. Ahead he seemed to hear a soft hissing
sound. There was an occasional subterranean rumble too. This made
cold chills race up and down his spine and the hair between his
shoulders began to bristle, a sign that fear was making him ready for
fight. He stopped now and crouched irresolutely beside a stone for a
long time, so long that the wolf cubs became lost to him in the mist.
He debated in his slow brain whether he should go on or turn back.
Thinking was a hard process for him. It took him a long time to
come to a decision. Presently, however, he found himself reasoning
thus: he was hungry, near to starving; he was foodless now because
the wolf cubs were gone, but they had gone on into the mist and
until he had lost sight of them nothing had happened to them. If
nothing had happened to them perhaps it was safe for him to go on,
—then too that enchanting odor was strong, very strong. That in the
end mastered his fears and he pushed on.
Deeper and deeper into that mysterious and awesome steam
blanket he penetrated, his courage screwed up to its highest notch.
He felt he was very brave; indeed he knew he was most brave for he
knew that none of the other hairy people would dare venture so far
into the domains of the terrible Fire Demon. But then he had the
example of the wolf-dog cubs, his terrific hunger and that
overpowering odor to carry him on. Presently he discovered that the
ground was quite warm even to his feet that had protective pads of
callous skin nearly an inch thick. Some of the rocks were hot. He
stepped on one, and with a grunt of surprise jumped aside. Had one
of the Fire Demon’s evil spirits bitten him! That burn took a great
deal of courage out of him and it was some time before he could
force himself to go on. When he did start forward he avoided every
stone and trod the ground with care.
Suddenly through the mist he heard a sharp yelp. It was one of
the wolf-dog cubs. The hairy boy knew their language. This was the
yelp of one cub driving the other away from something to eat. The
boy rushed forward determined that if there was food to be had he
wanted it before the cubs devoured it. A moment later he saw a
body prone on the ground. One of the wolf cubs was standing on it
and tearing great strips of flesh from it which it devoured with great
gusto. But there were other forms on the ground. The hairy boy saw
them everywhere. A band of horses had been caught in the valley by
the eruption of the volcano and killed by the terrific heat. They were
little horses with thin legs that ended in three toed feet.
With a cry of joy the all but famished boy hurried forward for he
recognized in the dead horses a treat that rarely fell to the hairy
people. It was only by means of the greatest skill in hunting and the
concerted effort of the whole colony that one of these horses,
veritable antelopes, was ever killed or captured, and when this
happened the whole colony had a feast for the flesh was the most
desirable meat attainable then.
But when the boy reached the nearest of the band of dead horses
he stopped and fear showed in his eyes. The horse was dead,
smitten by the hand of the Fire Demon. Its flesh and hide looked far
different from that of any horse he had ever seen. Something had
happened. But whatever that something was the hairy boy knew it
was also responsible for that delectable odor that he had trailed
down the hillside. He could not understand that the horse, in fact all
of the horses of the band, for there were several hundred scattered
about, had been killed by the intense heat of the lava and roasted to
a turn.
He circled the first horse suspiciously and looked it over
thoroughly. It was the one on the top of which the wolf-dog cub was
standing and tearing away luscious morsels. The boy watched the
cub. It ate and ate like a veritable glutton, yet nothing strange or out
of the ordinary seemed to happen to it. The feast of the cub and the
odor of roasted horse were too much for him. He approached the
carcass and reached over to where the cub was feasting. The cub
growled and snarled at him. This made the hairy boy angry and he
cuffed it so hard that he knocked it to the ground. Then he tore off a
strip of flesh that the cub had been chewing at and tasted it.
Never in all his life had anything passed his lips that gave him
greater pleasure. Horse meat had always seemed wonderful but this
horse meat upon which the hand of the Fire Demon had been laid
was beyond anything he had ever tasted. Fear, superstition and all
else were dominated by his overpowering hunger and he crouched
beside the cooked horse and glutted himself; indeed even when his
paunch was distended so that his hairy skin was tight, he still pulled
off shreds of meat and chewed on them. And as he sat there he felt
very comfortable and very happy despite the fact that steam clouds
swirled about him. At this he wondered and as he wondered his
primitive brain began to reason.
It was a long slow process then and very hard. Sometimes when
his reasoning got too deep or too complex he found his thoughts
wandering and it was always with an effort that he brought his mind
back to the problem of why he was so comfortable. In doing this the
hairy boy was perhaps the first of us humans to mentally discipline
himself and solve a problem. There were only a few thinkers among
the hairy people and their thoughts did not go beyond the making of
a stone hammer. They could not even think to the point of providing
clothing to help keep themselves warm.
But gradually the hairy boy worked it out. Heat was the reason for
his comfortable feeling. The atmosphere was delightfully warm, the
ground was warm; so wonderfully warm that he stretched himself at
full length upon it. The food he had eaten was warm. Assuredly heat
was the reason. The only warmth he had ever known was the
warmth of the sun, but never had he been able to get as close to
real warmth as here. And only occasionally of late years was the sun
so warm as the old men of the colony said it used to be, while the
cold had gone on year after year being more bitter until the hair of
the hairy folk grew thicker and thicker. The boy did not know that a
great change was in process; that the earth’s axis had swung slowly
out of position and that year after year the great ice caps about the
poles were edging their way toward the equator and that centuries
later great glaciers would cover the land miles deep with ice. Neither
did he know that the volcanic eruption he had witnessed was a
forerunner of this great change.
He did know though that the nights were very cold and that the
days were not the tropical days the old and weazened hairy men
told about and as he lay there prone on the warm earth struggling
with this new found power of reason, he wondered after all whether
the Fire Demon was the fearsome thing the hairy people believed it
to be. Here was good that it gave him: the good of warm food,
warm air, warm ground to put his back against—yet, and he realized
it with a shudder, here were these hundreds of dead horses on
which he and the wolf-dog cubs had feasted, mute testimony of the
wrath of the Fire Demon. Why was it that one who possessed so
much good could be so fearful? Why was it—but here the problem
became too perplexing for even the hairy boy and, being full of
stomach and warm of body, he fell asleep, probably the first human
being to sleep prone and lying on his back.
And as he slept the wolf cubs, seeing strange shapes in the
swirling steam clouds, and hearing strange guttural sounds as of
huge animals eating, searched him out and crept closer to him. They
were frightened at these menacing apparitions, and being
motherless they looked to the hairy boy for protection, for somehow
they felt that it was his presence that had kept them safe from harm
up there on the hillside under the cliff.
 CHAPTER III
THE CRACK IN THE EARTH

It seemed strange to the hairy boy that he should awaken with

the same thoughts in his brain that he had gone to sleep with. Why
did they persist? He could not understand, yet his brain still turned
over the problem of why the Fire Demon, who could give so much
that was good, could also destroy hundreds of horses, the fleetest
and wariest of the animals he knew. He could not answer the
question but as he pondered it he began to understand that if all the
good of warmth could be had from the Fire Demon perhaps it would
be possible to make friends with him and not fall a victim to his
wrath. The hairy boy did not know just how this could be done but
his interest was stirred beyond anything heretofore.
He got up, and although still bloated with food, he could not resist
tearing off a strip or two more of the roasted horse, then munching
on one of these he began wandering through the swirling steam, the
wolf cubs following him.
Presently he found himself walking through a layer of black ash
that was still warm and felt very comfortable to his feet. He knew as
he recalled the valley before the eruption that this had been a huge
forest. The heat from the hot lava lake somewhere down there in
the bottom of the valley had fired this and burned it to cinders. Only
an occasional rampike, charred and gaunt and weird looking in the
blowing steam, told of the forest that grew there before. The hairy
boy looked at these mute monuments to the wrath of the Fire
Demon with a mingled feeling of awe and wonder. To see these tree
giants charred and blackened, their twisted limbs shorn from them
and scattered half burned on the ground, revived to a certain extent
the fear that he had had. He stood and stared at the charred mass a
long time before going on, and then not until he had broken himself
a stout knotted club from one of the fire hardened rampikes, as if to
provide himself with some sort of a weapon with which to face the
mysterious danger of the Fire Demon.
Yet, despite his fear and trepidation, the hairy boy was enough a
master of his will power to force himself into exploring the valley
further. Deeper he pushed his way through the misty, swirling steam,
realizing the while that the air and the earth were growing hotter.
From this he understood that he was approaching what had
appeared to him from the hilltop to be a red hot lake where the lava
had gathered in the valley bottom.
The steam grew thicker and hotter and ahead of him and on
either hand he heard peculiar hissing noises, that agitated him a
great deal, for he could not know that it was the hot lava cooling off
by its contact with the cold and moist earth. He went on but he went
with great stealth and caution, always peering through the steam
with club raised as if expecting at any moment to come face to face
with the Demon that made the fire.
Suddenly the hissing grew more intense and the air very much
hotter. At the same time loomed through the steam a vast stretch of
smooth, black, polished rock that took queer forms as if it were so
much soft dough that had been poured over the ground and allowed
to harden. All about its edges, where it came into contact with the
ground, jets of steam were spurting out, each hissing and curling
like huge evanescent reptiles. The hairy boy gasped and drew back.
Then he stopped and stood staring, club upraised. He was alert and
ready for danger, but he was frankly curious too. He could not
understand why this black rock that never had been in the valley
before could give out such intense heat and cause the snaky spouts
of steam that hissed so ominously and lingered in the air like a
swamp fog. He crouched on his haunches and stared for a long, long
time while the wolf-dog cubs, crowding close to him, looked at the
black rock curiously while their tongues lolled because of the intense
heat.
 Finally the hairy boy got to his feet. His curiosity was mastering
his fear and suspicion. He began to approach the edge of the hot
lava bed very cautiously. As he advanced the heat grew more
intense until his hairy coat dripped perspiration and water from the
condensing steam. Closer and closer he moved until he was almost
within touching distance of a big black globule of the cooling lava
that was detached from the main mass. Then he reached out with
the stick he still carried and tapped it curiously.
A strange thing happened. Each time the stick came into contact
with the hot rock a wisp of blue smoke went up as the heat scorched
the wood. This was puzzling to the hairy boy. Why did this happen?
He tapped and tapped again; then he examined the scorched end of
the stick and felt of it. It was very hot. It burned him. He grunted
and pulled his hand away. Then he sat and thought for a long time
until his slow brain reasoned that the rock burned the stick, and the
heat that the stick carried from the rock burned his hand. The stick
carried the heat from the rock for a little while; then the heat
mysteriously disappeared.
Still he sat and thought and slowly a question took shape in his
mind. If the stick carried the heat for a little while just by tapping on
the rock, why wouldn’t it carry heat for a long while if he held the
stick onto the rock a long time? Perhaps it would, then that would be
a way of taking with him the good of the Fire Demon and leaving
behind the bad. He wanted the heat the Fire Demon could give but
he wanted to leave behind the power it had to kill and destroy.
He decided to try an experiment. He reached forth and held the
stick against the rock. Slowly the blue smoke appeared. It grew and
grew in quantity; then suddenly a tiny red flame began to lick at the
end of the stick, for the lava had set the pitchy knot on fire.
When the hairy boy saw the flame he grunted in terror, dropped
the stick and leaped backward in fear. Of course, the tiny flame went
out. The boy sat and watched the stick for a long time, and his brain
was so busy that his round head positively hurt. What were these
sinister red and orange things that had licked at the end of the stick?
Were they the fingers of the Fire Monster? If they were, why had
they not held the stick and consumed it?
He picked up the stick and tried the experiment again. Once more
the flames appeared, but went out when the stick was dropped.
Again he tried, but this time he held the stick longer. While he held it
he found that the flames waxed stronger and grew bigger. He
studied them curiously, holding the stick at arm’s length, and, while
he watched, he wondered whether, after all, these flames were not
the beneficial thing that the Fire Monster had to give him. They were
hot. He could carry them by carrying the stick away. Yet he could kill
them by merely dropping the stick or tapping it on the ground. He
tried it again and again, and each time he lit the stick and put it out
he sensed a feeling of elation within him. He felt as if he were doing
a masterly thing. He could awaken or conquer the Fire Monster at
will. It was wonderful; almost a triumph. The hairy boy felt as proud
as he had the day he had leaped out from behind a rock and slain
his first wild goat with a stone hammer that he had borrowed from
his father’s cave.
He was so elated by the knowledge that he was master of the fire
that he began to dance up and down in a peculiarly weird sort of a
way and drum on his chest with his fists, chanting the while, “Og,
og, og, og, og,” which to him meant “I am a great man now; no
longer a boy. I am the conqueror; Og, the conqueror.” And thus it
was that he gave himself a name, after the manner of the hairy folk.
Og he was to be thenceforth, for he felt that he had won this name,
for among the hairy men only the people who had achieved
something notable were entitled to a name.
After that for almost an hour he amused himself by lighting and
putting out the stick and slowly a sense of self-confidence grew
within him, and he no longer had the awe and fear of the Fire
Demon. Indeed he held the burning end of the stick quite close to
him, watched the flames curiously, felt their heat, broke off slivers
from the other end of the club, lit them and knocked them out. Once
he breathed hard upon one of these splinters and it went out. Here
was a discovery, indeed. With his very breath he could kill the Fire
Demon. He blew hard upon the flames that curled about the pitchy
knots of his club to prove it and they went out too. After that he lost
all fear of the Fire Monster. Anything so weak that he could conquer
it with his breath was not at all to be feared.
He held the stick to the lava to light it again, his mind intent on
what he was doing; indeed he had been so fascinated with his
experiments that he had forgotten everything, even the wolf-dog
cubs. He had not noticed how the hair on the back of their necks
bristled or how they cowered with tails between their legs while they
looked furtively into the swirling steam behind them. In truth, the
first that he realized that anything was amiss was when both cubs
with a frightened snarl tried to crowd between his legs for
protection. At the same moment a snort sounded behind him,
followed by a strident trumpeting.
Og, flaming stick in hand, jumped up with a start to behold but
vaguely through the steam a massive hairy and tusked head with
upraised trunk and sinister little eyes, looming above him. Og knew
only too well what it was and his heart all but stopped when he saw
the evil thing. His people called it The Mountain That Walked, the
great shaggy haired mammoth. They were so big and so strong and
so fearless that even Sabre Tooth, the great cave tiger, slunk from
them.
For one horror-fraught second the hairy boy stared at the terrible,
massive head and trunk that waved slowly back and forth above
him. He knew the great beast had marked him as an enemy. He
knew that the curled trunk would strike swiftly and surely, that the
great coils would close about him and that with one powerful toss he
would be hurled skyward to fall and be trampled under the heavy
feet of the ponderous beast. It was a terrible death to face and Og
shrank back and shuddered as he watched the great trunk. He was
so frightened he was no longer master of himself. It was as if the
wicked little eyes had hypnotized him and held him spellbound.
Slowly, with a weaving motion, a sinister swaying from side to side,
the great trunk bent toward him, ready to strike.
Suddenly the boy thought of the stick; the fire brand that he held
in his hand. It gave him courage. With a wild yell he leaped and
whirled the burning club above his head aiming a blow at the big
beast. The flaming end swept within a foot of the great animal’s face
and with a snort it drew back. In that instant the hairy boy, still
clinging to the lighted stick, bolted off through the fog of steam, the
wolf cubs at his heels.
As swift as the wind he ran, and the giant mammoth, now
thoroughly aroused, vented a thunderous trumpet and raced after
him with an awkward shambling gait.
Although he was clumsy and ponderous the mammoth covered
the ground as swiftly as Og did, his long trunk reaching out before
him ready to seize his victim the instant he came within reach.
Had it been a long race Og most certainly would have been
captured. He knew this too and he fled with swiftness borne of utter
panic for he could hear the heavy thuds of ponderous feet close
behind him, and the whistling, snorting of its breath seemed almost
at his back. But fortunately as he raced on through the steam fog
there suddenly appeared before him a great crevice rent in the
hillside by the earthquake that had attended the volcanic eruption. It
was like a deep but narrow wound in the hill, and Og knew that if he
climbed into this the great mammoth could not follow. True, his
snake-like trunk could reach inside but Og felt that if he could crawl
beyond its length the animal could not force his body into the
narrow opening.
With safety in sight Og leaped forward with renewed speed and
literally hurled himself into the crevice, the wolf-dog cubs falling over
each other to scramble in behind him. In a panic all three struggled,
stumbled and crawled over rocks and earth clods and forced
themselves back into the deepest, narrowest confines of this crack in
the earth. There in the darkness that was lighted only by the tiny
flames of the still burning torch that Og had clung to, they waited.
Presently The Mountain That Walked, with thunderous tread and
whistling breath, reached the crevice. For a moment the great beast
stopped and peered inside. Then scenting his enemy within he
reached his snaky trunk into the earthy cave, and groped about.
The hairy boy and the wolf cubs shrank back trembling. To have
this horrible thing within a few feet of their faces, was a terrible
experience and for a time it shattered the courage of the trio. But
when it became apparent that the animal could not reach them Og
grew braver, so brave in fact that presently he fell to shouting
terrible insults at the beast and brandishing his fiery stick. Indeed he
mustered the courage to crawl close enough to the twisting trunk to
jam the fire stick into its folds.
With a roar the trunk was withdrawn immediately and the hairy
boy, laughing with glee, turned toward the cowering wolf cubs as if
seeking their approval for his brave deed.
But the smile on his face was transformed into an expression of
horror, for as he looked toward the end of the crevice he saw to his
consternation that the walls on either side were slowly drawing
closer together. Clods of earth and heavy stones were falling, jarred
loose by the slow but irresistible movement of the walls. The earth
that had been pushed upward by volcanic action was slowly settling
again. The crevice was closing and they would be buried alive.
 CHAPTER IV
THE FIRST CAMP FIRE

All the horrors of such a terrible death were apparent to Og and

the two wolf cubs. The hairy boy stood with staring, fear-bulged
eyes and watched the slow, irresistible movement of the earthy walls
as they came together. He could feel the movement of the ground
beneath his feet as it began to sink downward and he could feel the
vibration of a rumbling thunderous noise that came up from the
nethermost depths of the earth. A great fear clutched his heart; a
fear that somehow he and the now whimpering wolf cubs had put
themselves into the clutches of a great and evil spirit who owned
this cave; this huge wound in the hillside.
Yet though almost paralyzed with fear Og’s brain worked. The
Mountain That Walked had been defeated. He had withdrawn.
Perhaps he was waiting outside in the steam fog or perhaps he had
gone back down into the valley. If he were waiting outside, to go out
meant death. But to stay in here meant death too, the horrible death
of being buried alive. Outside death was uncertain. Then too he had
a marvelous new weapon in this fiery stick of his. Perhaps with its
aid and his swift legs he could defeat the mammoth. It was worth
trying. They were deep inside the crevice. They would have to move
quickly to get out in time for the walls were closing fast. Already one
of the wolf cubs had started for the opening. Og turned and called
to the other one. It was struggling under a heavy clod of earth that
had fallen upon it and held it down. Og saw its plight. He was about
to turn and bolt and leave it to its death. But something made him
hesitate. He could not understand this strange feeling. He did not
know that within him was growing a sense of loyalty and
unselfishness that the hairy people never knew. He did not realize
that this marked him as being a higher type of human than any hairy
man had ever been, but he did know that an overmastering desire to
help the struggling wolf dog swept away any selfish thoughts of his
own safety, and he sprang back toward the rear of the crevice, dug
the wolf dog from beneath the caved-in earth, then, gathering it
under one arm and with the burning resinous torch in the other
hand, he began a mad scramble for the opening of the crevice.
The rumbling beneath his feet grew louder and more ominous.
Earth and rock broke loose from the walls above and fell about him
and on him. One huge stone struck him on the shoulder and its
jagged corners cut deep through his hair and flesh. Og cried out
with pain and staggered under the impact. Yet he stumbled and
struggled onward while great beads of perspiration stood out on his
low forehead, and his eyes dilated with fear. On and on he pushed,
while the rumbling beneath him grew to an angry growl and the
earthy walls on either hand and overhead rocked and swayed dizzily.
The opening was only a little way ahead now. The first wolf cub had
gained it and scrambled out into the steam filled air. Og envied him
his salvation. He wondered vaguely whether he could make it or
whether, there within a few short paces of freedom, he would be
caught between the crunching, caving walls of earth and crushed to
death.
He made a mighty effort to gain the opening. His great muscles
swelled under the strain. Blood leaped through his arteries, the
cords of his neck stood out and his breath came in great sobs as he
struggled toward the air and light. One leap more and he would be
free, one stride and he would be out of that terrible cave of
grumbling noise, and crumbling walls. Og leaped.
At the same instant the rumbling developed to a roar, and a
grinding crash, as the wall on either side of the crevice caved in and
the earth settled. Og reached the air in a cloud of dust and a shower
of earth and stones, and, in a perfect avalanche of debris, rolled
over and over down the hillside, until he stopped with stunning
impact at the foot of a huge bowlder. For the space of several
seconds he and the wolf cub lay there in a semi-conscious condition.
Then slowly Og came to and sat up. And the first thing that he
looked for when he became himself again was his fire stick. He
found it close at hand for he had clung to it even in his mad plunge
down the hillside. But of course its flames were out.
Og picked it up and viewed this fact with disappointment. The
knotty end was a mass of glowing smoking coals but the flames
were gone. Og crouched beside the bowlder and looked at the hot
end of the stick turning it over and over, and wondering the while
how to rekindle it. He began to blow upon it softly. Why he did this
he could not tell. But as he breathed upon it the coals grew redder
and hotter and suddenly a tiny flame appeared, then another and
another until the torch was rekindled.
Og gave a grunt of surprise at this and his low forehead wrinkled
into a perplexed frown. Here was a thing that he could slay with his
breath yet he could bring it to life again by breathing upon it. It was
strange indeed, a thing he would have liked to puzzle over, for he
had found that thinking was a strange and fascinating game. But he
realized that the daylight hours were waning. Night was coming on
and he knew now that with the Stalking Death abroad and probably
many other animals down there in the valley feeding on the roasted
horses, it would not be safe for him to linger. He thought of the cave
under the cliff where he and the wolf cubs had taken refuge first and
he decided to go there for the night.
Both cubs were close at hand, though the one he had rescued was
unable to walk. Og gathered this one under his arm and calling to
the other started out of the valley and toward the towering cliffs that
he could see in the distance through the steam. As they made their
way forward Og glanced at the hill where the crevice had been.
What had been the crown of it was now a deep depression still filled
with dust clouds. Og turned his head away for the thoughts that he
and the cubs might even now be buried under that mass of rock and
dirt were very unpleasant.
They were a long way from their refuge and Og hurried for he
feared to be caught down there in the valley at nightfall. Night was
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