Book excerpt: Originally published in an important series of books on pure and applied mathematics, this monograph by a distinguished mathematician explores a high-level area in algebra. It constitutes the first systematic summary of research concerning partially ordered groups, semigroups, rings, and fields. The self-contained treatment features numerous problems, complete proofs, a detailed bibliography, and indexes. It presumes some knowledge of abstract algebra, providing necessary background and references where appropriate. This inexpensive edition of a hard-to-find systematic survey will fill a gap in many individual and institutional libraries.