Customer Reviews

Conquering Math Phobia: A Painless Primer

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

 

 

This book got me past my fear of math so well that I decided to go back to college & finish a long-delayed bachelor's degree. Designed for adults, the book gradually takes the reader from phobia to ability. Many examples and lots of interesting explanations, plus end-of-chapter exercises with answers. My only complaint: more illustrations would be nice.

I bought this book years ago and promptly put it on a shelf and forgot about it. I finally picked it up in early August and started working with it over the summer break. In less than one month I had refreshed my math skills to the point that I am confident that I can tackle any day-to-day math problems that I may encounter.

Great as a reference or as a primer for going back to school. Better to try it out with a book first than to jump right into formal math classes!

The author must remember that the readers who are buying this book are, most likely, not the brightest among the human race. And, even if we are, it still takes some time and practice to master basic fundamentals.

The author races through the chapters too quickly. Not enough review questions, and not enough basic explanations. He depends on the rules to summarize the chapters for brevity. Faulty assumption.

Nevertheless, and subjectively speaking, I gathered a confident 'head of steam' of mathematics well into the book. I felt competent mastering numbers, fractions, decimals, and basic conversions. Then, I slammed into Chapter 13, when the author explains basic algebra and introduces Mr. X (isolating x into equations). Sadly, all my thought processes shut down and math phobia took charge.

Between Chapters 13 - 18, I encountered problems which I classified as Section 2. The author failed to discuss and illustrate pivotal points over fundamental mathematics. The rules are not enough to fully comprehend the long-handed process. One example 2x + x. This is one such example, not covered in the book, where the author needs to take a slight detour and explain how to interpret this. Also, there are additional methods for solving algebraic equations, and some of them are easier to (re)learn. The author needs to take a moment to discuss them. I found that using the easier methods (found in other books), and the long-handed method, gave me additional practice and clarity of concepts. Add the easier methods and include more word problems to solve.

The author should break the chapters down into three sections. At the end of each section, present additional problems that cover the material in that section with clear illustrations presented in the answers. This is not the time to skip steps. Do not assume that the student has it already mastered.

I must refer serious students to another couple books sold by Amazon, which are absolutely EXCELLENT! Quick Arithmetic, new 3rd ed. by Robert A. Carman, and Practical Algebra by Peter Selby.