Customer Reviews

Algebra & Trigonometry

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

1)Michael Sullivan (Sr.) is one of the four or five best writers
of math textbooks on today's scene. If you can find a textbook written by him that fits whatever current math course you are in
buy the book sight unseen. You will be more than happy that you
did.
2)As far as this book is concerned, I used it from chapter 1 to the end (every section of every chapter) and did every problem in
the book. I did not have an instructor and I was not enrolled in a course. I used the book to brush up for calculus after being out of school for 20 years.
3)This book is great for a course in college algebra, trigonometry, or precalculus. It serves all three purposes. I know this because after I finished the text and began studying
calculus, on my own, I was really able to appreciate how well
Sullivan's book prepared me for calculus.
4)The explanations of each concept are clear, not more rigorous
than is appropriate for a student at the level of the textbook,
but certainly not dumbed down.
5)The problems and questions are well written, comprehensive, and
most importantly, instructive. I found that the best question I
could ask myself about every problem in the book was "now what is
Sullivan trying to get me to see by doing this problem or answering this question". I mention this because this is what Sullivan is really good at; he doesn't spoon feed you.
6)Look, we all want essentially the same things from a textbook.
We want clearly written, well illustrated worked out problems
that allow us to grasp the concept in question so that we can use
it to solve problems and answer conceptual questions. With Sullivan, you get this in great measure.
This is a wonderful textbook for both sudents and teachers. It is
a great book to learn from and a great book to learn to teach from.

With the sixth edition of this textbook, Sullivan has made significant strides since the fifth edition of the College Algebra portion. The interval notations used to indicate the regions where the value of a function is increasing or decreasing is so much more clear and concise. In contrast to the former use of frequently displaying number lines with pluses and minuses underneath, in which the readings of them were perhaps more of an exercise for the eyes than for the mind, Sullivan revised this mess using parentheses and brackets to indicate test intervals.

As a teacher, I say that this is not the most user-friendly book for an instructor who teaches one hour college algebra classes three times a week. Oftentimes, for me to quickly get the fundamentals across, I have to paraphrase what Sullivan lays out in many of the sections. The language is often too theoretical for several of my students (Many are in non-technical majors but have to complete college algebra as a last mathematics course requirement), and I have to put the symbolic logic sequences into terms that can cross over to applied mathematics. This is not meant to be a criticism, however.

Perhaps the main weaknesses lie in the shortcomings of applied problems, particularly in the sections concerning maxima and minima, and especially in the inequality segments. On a very positive note, however, I will grant that the sixth chapter, which involves logarithms and exponents is quite fascinating. For instance, you have applied problems involving the amount of interest that can be gained after so many years if, say, [money amount]is deposited into an account and accumulates interest at 6% compounded quarterly. Physics problems are also well presented. One interesting tidbit: if you wondered how long it would take for a 300-degree dish to cool down to 100 degrees in an environment that is at room temperature, the formula that can be used, namely Newton's Law of Cooling, is provided. As another example: suppose that a dead animal was discovered in a barn at midnight and its temperature was 80°F° ; the temperature of the barn is kept constant at 60°F; two hours later the temperature of the corpse dropped to 75°F; find the time of death. The formula for this type of problem is also shown.

As added kudos, I especially like the intermittent TI-83 calculator tips. The use of technology in mathematics classes is notably increasing in the community colleges. All in all, this is a finer, more updated version, and it is especially recommended for those who want to go beyond the call of duty and discover new ways of applying mathematics to their daily lives.

I am 55 years old and promised myself that when I became financially able I would relearn Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Calculus I, II,III & IV and ODE skills from start to finish. I am now finished with Sullivan's book I have found the book easy to read and understand. The presenation of the material is well thought out and the abundance of practice problems invaluable. If you are serious about math then this is a great book.

A retired hedge fund manager.

The softcover version of this book, ISBN 0-13-081021-5, is the "Student Solutions Manual." This is NOT a softcover version of the hardcover book. It's an awesome 697 pages of detailed solutions, not just the answers, to the odd numbered problems from the hardcover book. I definitely recommend this book.

I got this book for the sole reason of learning trig and some pre-calculus algebra. I must say I am highly disappointed. It has been months since I bought it and I have completed it. In most math textbooks up until now, you have probably been used to completing the problems by looking at the examples in a chapter, plugging in different values in the examples then mindlessly calculating without ever getting any sense of the purpose or meaning behind the subject matter. That is exactly what you will be doing in this book. First there is almost no attempt to "connect the dots" and this book suffers from the writing style that has plagued low level math textbooks for way too long. That is, the book is written to show you how to solve problems as quickly, as painless (and as blinded) as possible. Nearly all problems in this book may be completed by plugging in different values to the examples. There are very few proofs given (not that I expected a lot) and very few attempts to say things such as "Method B follows directly from method A you learned early." Or "Method B, is really just a clever use of the Pythagorean theorem.". Many times there will be chapters with little (but enough) explaining, then you get a chapter which would require a lot of explaining, but instead is very packed in very dense paragraphs full of definitions. This is fine for me, but would probably confuse alot of "non-math" people. Overall there is a ton of (very easy) problems in the book, though they are not all easy. There is also a lot of "applied" problems which are really scenarios which would probably never occur in the real world (don't get me wrong some of the applied problem are quite interesting, but about 95% of them are not). If you are 100% self-taught like me this is my recommendation to, if you really want this book as go ahead at get it, it's only strong point is that it is good for "drilling methods into you". Trigonometry is (apparently) a really fun math, but this book turns it in to a ridiculously boring and mundane subject providing no mathematical motivation to anything you will learn. So do not get it and use it as your only source. I would suggest that you do not do all 90+ problem at the end of a chapter, I would suggest doing most of them andding in problems from the free (any very good) ebook, Trigonometry, by Michael Corral ([...]). To get more theory and harder more challenging problems to bring you up to a higher level you MUST get Trigonometry by I.M Gelfand. A word of advice: Gelfand was a ruthless and professional mathematician, even though this book is aimed at introductory trig, it is still pretty hard math don't feel bad if you can't complete every problem in Gelfand. Also Gelfand's book is insanely good practice, and like most great math books, the true knowledge is in the problems, (though he is an excellent at explaining too). If you wish for some historical motivation behind trigonometry get this free (and also enjoyable) ebook Trigonometric Delights
by Eli Maor ([...]). I assume you are self-taught like me and are serious about it too, when you go onto calculus get "Calculus by Micheal Spivak" it is the must wonderfully written and challenging (but never demoralizing) math book I think I will ever read. Well that's all good luck.

One feature I really liked about this book was the "Now work on Problem #..." items, which give you a specific exercise to work on in that section to make sure you understand the concept just covered. Also, the author has highlighted certain exercise problems for a suggested practice test. These are great if you already know some of the material you can just breeze through these until you get stuck on something. The paperback solutions manual was also excellent, I used it a lot since I was teaching myself.

This book is NOT the textbook. It is simply the student solutions manual. The textbook is the hardcovered version. It does not come in paperback. This book you are viewing is the student solutions manual ONLY!!! Make sure it's what you want.

This book is improperly organized - concepts in mathematics must be understood from the easiest level to the most difficult - this book presents the material for memorization, NOT understanding. This is the first time that I encounter math organized in such a way. While everything is explained well enough, the lumping together of too much information for difficult concepts makes it difficult to learn properly. Try McKeague instead, same title, just a much better book.

This book does a very good job of teaching the reader about algebra and basic trigonometry. The chapters are laid out in a very organized manner with more than enough examples to help you through each chapter

Although she isn't technically home schooled, I do tend to teach my little sister at home. She's quite intelligent, especially for a middle school student, so all that was needed was the right book for the job. This is that book.

I set out to teach my sister Geometry and Trigonometry, as she's about to enter High School. This book did the Trigonometry job superbly, and, not only is she putting her trig identities to good use, but she's finally uncovered another world in mathematics. Because of this book, I can actually begin to teach her Calculus, something that I was hoping to do but was going to put off for another year.

This book is the best book I can think of to teach yourself College Algebra and Trigonometry, and it is also a great book to transition from the world of Algebra to the world of Calculus.