Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Precalculus

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is worth its weight in gold. However, it is not a substitute for a complete textbook. Mr. Kelley has a gift. He makes algebra and trigonometry easy to understand. My students rave about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Precalculus. Regardless of your ability level this book will significantly increase your insight and understanding. Many teachers can do precalculus. There are not a lot of teachers who are good at explaining precalculus. W Michael Kelley is great. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Precalculus is so good I felt compelled to write this review. You will cherish the book.

First off let me invite you to recognize that different schools teach different parts of the mathematical spectrum for this course. But a very comprehensive course will essentially review the end of algebra II, some trig., then introduce some parts of calculus to give you an idea where your gonna be going with this stuff. Really though one could say it's just advanced algrebra dealing with new forms of functions.

Also let's understand that this book is not meant to be a textbook and thus will not be loaded with practice problems. That's not generally included in a study aid/self teaching guide like this. However, I do admit this book was short on the examples as well as practice problems, so I say this tongue in cheek.

So how does this book stack up? It's great! Really it is. It covers nearly everything that you'll be looking at in Pre-calculus. One thing it does skip though is Polynomial Functions. It does cover polynomials, even the fundamental theorem of algebra, but not the functions of polynomials. I've noticed that Forgotten Calculus (Barbara Lee) as well as Pre-Calculus Demystified (Rhonda Huettenmueller) do cover these.

For those of you looking for help in Trigonometry there is a small section here, which is helpful for most of trig. However when you get to identities this book won't be too helpful because it doesn't even cover the half-angle identities, sum-product identities, nor the very basic quotient identities. The last of these is almost too obvious to worry about (you'll see when you get a basic lesson on trig.), however the other two are very useful tools for proving two trig functions as being equivalent to each other. Also this section of the book should have several examples as the only way to really get to know how to work identities is to do large quantities of them, yet start doing them several examples are helpful. However you could always buy a solutions manual for trig textbooks that cover these so you could see several worked out examples. Honestly, don't expect to find any self teaching guide filled with enough examples on this particular subject.

Also I think it would be appropriate to introduce some information on Limits here and then review (and go more in depth in his calculus book). However Limits are not talked about in this book which is likely due to the fact that he talks about them in his next book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus. I don't know how much detail he gets into on these in his next book, but I can tell you they're not talked about here.

It also would have been nice to have had a small introduction to sequences and sets here. But alas the book is found wanton.

I won't detail what the book does talk about since it's able to be previewed here on Amazon when you're logged into your account. However, I must say, those parts it does discuss are easy to understand. In order for this book to make it to a "self teaching guide status" it would need to have some more examples and practice problems (as mentioned earlier), but overall it will help you if you are trying to learn on your own or just need some clarification on lecture. I recommend it.

Overall I'd give this book a 4.7 if I could because I think that some parts could use a bit more expansion, like more examples as noted earlier , but gave it 5 stars because (can't choose 4.7 anyhow) it still is a worthy supplement.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Precalculus is an excellent book for readers who want to venture into the Land of Calculus, but fear they have neither the skill nor the "mathematical mind" to do so. At the end of this journey, you'll feel calm, confident and ready to do battle with "The Calculus." Highly recommended to math-phobes everywhere!

Like every book so far from Michael Kelly, it's fun to read.
The "you've got problems" sections are very good and pushes you to actually be very involved in the subject in stead of just read the book. It's gives you the right feedback if you did understand the topic. Much more than some questions at the end of a chapter.
Highly recommended!

I started reading this book with no knowledge of Calculus or Precalculus, and I can wholeheartedly say that this book has increased my knowledge immensely. This book is written in a way that makes it enjoyable (as much as a math book can be) to read. A lot of other books make me space out with all of their jargon and inadequate explanations, but I don't have that problem with this book. If you want to learn start learning Calculus, this is the book to get.

A very good book for learning the basics of precalculus with clear explanations. It was full of clear examples of almost all the topics in a precalculus course. Some sections could have used additional example problems but overall the book covered precalculus well.

Don't even think of starting calculus unless you have read this book. Even in the best of educations there is always something that remains uncertain and this book will clear those things up. Don't leave home without it!

The author accomplishes what he sets out to do,to make precalculus easily understandable. The humerous tone of the book makes for a relaxed atmosphere in which to learn. Whether approaching the subject matter for the first time,or just becoming reacquainted , this is a worthy addition to your library

I purchased this book to study over the summer before taking precal in the fall. So far so good, but my algebra skills are very weak, so I find I have to review previous chapters or refer back to them once I start the next chapters. I like the practice problems, and "final" at the end, the author does really try to explain concepts as througly as possible but I think it will be a great reference once the class starts in the fall, I would recommed this to a friend.

I graduated high school with Algebra 2 as my highest math. Later, I realized that I have been placed under calculus class in college. I begin to panic because I have no knowledge of pre-calculus. Luckily, this book gave me everything I need to connect with calculus. Now I no longer fear math! Bring it! Evil Calculus! :D