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I'm about 4/5 of the way through this book (or 5*x=4, solving for xths of the way through. Not relying on calculators has greatly enhanced my facility with numbers. I purposely avoided math throughout my college career.
Like many other people that purchased Practical Algebra, I thought I hated math and would never be able to learn from a book. Difficult problems are thoroughly explained. gahoy).
This book has done what I didn't think was possible: it's gotten me back to where I was when I last stepped out of a math class 10 years ago.The authors don't spend too much time belaboring points, and they seem to have a knack for knowing trouble spots for students. I'm the classic mathphobe. I have a liberal arts degree.
They even warn you in advance when sections are going to be particularly challenging, and, more often than not, they're right.While some have complained that this book is outdated because it doesn't account for graphing calculators, I find the opposite to be true. Although I could use a calculator, I wouldn't get any better at math doing so.
This book was written in 1974, before the years of common calculators. I bought this book to refresh myself on algebra before taking a Precalculus course. The book therefore does not teach use of calculators, and contains irrelevant chapters by nowadays standards (one example is a chapter on manually finding square roots of large numbers, teachers nowadays allow calculators for that purpose). The book has certainly helped out, and is a great paper resource for teaching yourself algebra. However, realize somethings before buying. Graphing and functions are also usually taught using graphing calculators, this book of course does not utilize them.I have also found the simply put, alot of this information can be found online nowadays via free educational websites. Take a look around first before spending your money on this book.
I Love this book. AND the authors are quite adept in their explanations of algebraic principles. I started reading it last night and was in stitches for thefirst two or three pages. It's about Time someone wrote a science/math/physicsbook that keeps you chuckling while you're learning. A nice, easy and yet astute read. What a Gift.
I last had algebra at college in 1983 and hated it, so the prospect of taking algebra again in 2009 was more than daunting. I consider this book to be the best fourteen bucks I've spent in a long time. The writing attempts to be humorous and sometimes succeeds, but I never felt it was condescending, just funny.
This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. My teacher commented on my ready understanding in class, and when I told her about my summer with this book she asked to see it. I had forgotten everything I learned, and knew I'd better brush up.
This book allowed me to return to school this fall with confidence, and honestly, I had an easier time in the algebra class than in any of the others, thanks to this book. I purchased it in June and spent the next two months working my way through the book while sitting at the pool. I found the explanations easy to understand, and liked the practice questions after each new concept.
Her assessment upon returning the book to me: "Not pretty, but very good." I'm online now to see what else the authors have that might help me for next semester. Not only has it taught me well, but when my teenagers have trouble in their algebra classes, I've been able to pull it back out and help them understand their lessons too.
EXCELLENT BOOK. I AM USING IT TO PRACTICE FOR A COLLEGE COURSE IN ALGEBRA. GREAT REFRESHER.RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO HAS TO TAKE A COLLEGE COURSE IN ALGEBRA AFTER GRADUATING FROM SCHOOL MANY YEARS
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