Customer Reviews

Algebra the Easy Way (Barron's Easy Way)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought this book because the story format intrigued me. However, as I went along the narrative wore thin. The exercises are good and there are some very clever ways in which concepts are introduced. This book can be a great tool if only some of the narrative can be shortened. If you need a book that gets to the point quickly and succinctly go with "Practical Algebra: A self-teaching guide" by Selby et al.

The device of attaching math problems to a story line, and showing the efforts of the characters to solve them, is the key to this book's unique appeal for younger kids who want to get into algebra (and can handle the abstract thinking required). It captures their interest and can be read relatively fast, though the algebra is not watered-down so the book naturally does require intelligence and careful attention. The story line presentation guarantees that the focus is on insight, a characteristic that sharply distinguishes this "Easy Way" series of books from typical high-school or college texts.

If you have (or are) that extra smart young kid, who always seems to be a grade (year) or two ahead of his/her class in maths, this book is certainly going to be perfect for him/her (as it was for me). This was the book that got me interested in Algebra. Downing takes the reader on an adventure, explaining the basics of algebra through a story, and progressing almost to the very apex of general algebra. (He doesn't cover every single aspect of general algebra - I recall one example: Synthetic Division, there are others.) But for a child, who's ahead of the rest, you don't need to have everything just yet.

This book certainly won't appeal to adults or older teens (who will easily get bored and turned off by the underlying story), but it was a great introduction for me when I was just turning the decade mark. It really helps you to understand Algebra as more than a bunch of things to memorise; it makes you see applications in every aspect of life. Once you (or your child) have finished this book, you'll be thirsting for more, and that's when you move on to a more traditional textbook to fill in the "blanks". After that, algebra will be running through your veins. With this solid foundation, trigonometry and calculus will be much easier.

(The author also wrote similar books on Trigonometry and Calculus. The Calculus book was quite poor because the story began to intrude on explaining the concepts properly. [By the time you are ready to take calculus on, you should use a traditional textbook - like Anton or Thomas.] The trigonometry book was quite good, but I feel none can match the brilliance of this book.)

My oldest child has begun to study algebra in school. Algebra, the Easy Way is a wonderful addition to her classroom studies. This book's approach explains the whys of algebra. It takes students beyond the "just memorize" it way of learning alegebra. To use this book effectively, I strongly suggest readers do some of the problems at the end of each chapter. You'll find the answers in the back of the book. Students who complete this book will be well on their way to being able to use algebra.

My younger children have taken an interest in the book, too. The book's story approach has sparked their interest. Because of their young ages, they are moving more slowly through the book than the older child. Nonetheless, the book's approach has made algebra seem like a very natural idea to them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in beginning the study of algebra.

I am also an adult wanting to refresh long unused skills. One good thing about this is that each chapter has a reasonable number of problems and answers, so it's not intimidating in that way. But I could also do without the fantasy story. This would probably appeal to a young person in JHS or HS who's taking algebra and needs to review, but I just want to cut to the chase and will be looking for another book.

I have never been a math dummy and bought this book because my daughter is going into the subject area in school and I thought I'd retool my skills to be able to help her.

While the book is written in storybook style and is, at first, amusing, the approach wears thin after a couple of chapters and you find yourself wishing the authors would just get to the point. Later you wish they would provide a little more explanation and a few more examples for the more complex topics in the book.

Often, the chapters that are very short present a lengthy series of problems for you to solve, the complexity of which goes well beyond the thin explanations and examples the authors provide in the book. Sadly, the authors chose not to provide step-by-step solutions for the more complicated problems in the exercise sections.

Overall, this book is greatly disappointing and I recommend you don't waste valuable money buying it. It won't lead you to any clear understanding of the subject matter at all. It will, however leave you wishing you'd spent your money on something more useful.

A final note: I also purchased their book, Trigonometry The Easy Way before I worked with Algebra The Easy. The former is just as poorly composed as the one under discussion here.

I recieved a copy of this book in elementary school, one year before they were to put me into an algebra class. I first started reading it not because I was interested in mathematics, but because I liked fantasy novels. The way the characters get sucked into the explanation of the whys behind the relationships between numbers, etc... that was what made me become interested in mathematics too.

Unfortunately when I started algebra I was way ahead of the other kids in the class and found myself bored and unimpressed by the way the teacher took something so interesting and made it simply dull busy work. But I learned something important from this book -- I didn't need teachers to learn mathematics. I soon found myself learning calculus during my freshmen year of high school and when it came time to apply for college, guess what my major was? You got it - Math...

I attribute it all to this book -- this is where my love of math began.

So on one hand, you'll learn algebra and possibly find yourself with a passion for math, but you may also find yourself bored and ahead of your classmates as well.

I would recommend this book as a complement to an algebra course or even as a guide for adults who don't remember algebra. Instead of using the conventional method in which you have to memorize terms, this book makes you understand formulas and equations.

I must admit to being a much older kid - I'm 46 and have been using this to brush up on Algebra!

I wanted to rebut some of the comments that the fantasy story makes the text applicable only to younger teens. The fantasy narrative format adds a little extra verbiage to the presentation, but helps to set the algebra in a problem-solving context; this de-mystifies the subject considerably, providing a glimpse into the kinds and types of problems for which algebraic techniques provide solutions.

The book covers high school algebra quite completely, IMHO, including most if not all of what would be included in a second- semester algebra class (Algebra-2, it was called when I was in high school).

I'd chime in with other readers who noted the utility of the various exercises at the ends of chapters -- it is true that the problems sometimes demand a short leap beyond material covered in the lessons, but I think most motivated students can master the trickier exercises without serious overstrain. It's also fun to discover a few things on your own -- there is a "method to the madness" adhered to in the exercises that facilitates this quite regularly.

I really can't find any serious flaws with this wonderful, clearly written study guide, and recommend it to anyone who wants a good survey of introductory and intermedeate algebra, with just the right amount of exercise to pound it all home.

I am a homeschool mom, and trying to teach my 15 year old algebra that I don't remember was a real challenge until we started using this book! The practice exercises really make him think and I love that the answers are included. This book should be titled "Algebra the Fun Way!" My thanks to the authors.