Customer Reviews

Geometry for Enjoyment and Challenge

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have taught an honors high school geometry class for almost 11 years using this book. It has its strengths and weaknesses, but I've been quite happy with it.

First its strengths: it presents geometry in a mathematician's manner, starting with a few postulates and advancing one theorem at a time. For example, it doesn't tell you that the angles of a triangle add to 180 degrees until it discusses the parallel postulate on which that theorem is based. It proves everything that the authors think is within the understanding of a strong high school geometry student. The problems range from easy to very hard, with a strong emphasis on proof in the first chapters. Students are expected to solve some of the problems creatively, which is why some students who reviewed this book are frustrated by it. This means the book does a good job of presenting math the way it really is (guess, experiment, prove) instead of what students think it is (apply a formula, get the answer). The problems without solutions mentioned in the other reviews are few and far between indeed.

Its weaknesses: the book really is intended for more self-motivated students that you normally find in high school. I imagine that this book might be off-putting for kids who don't really care about math. I don't like how the information at the beginning of the book is divided into chapters, but I just clump the information differently when I teach it. I think that some of the proofs left out of the book are quite accessible to motivated students, and I teach them. I have also been able to teach theorems beyond the scope of the book, which suggests that the book could have gone into more detail.

Overall, I recommend this book for a geometry course for motivated and bright high school students. I do not recommend it for self-study or for very basic courses. I agree with the other reviewers that it requires a competent teacher, but that's because no book can teach the creativity and problem-solving skills required to solve difficult problems. This book does not teach toy geometry...don't use it for kids who need that.

Geometry for Enjoyment and Challenge was an excellent resource for me as I studied Geometry on my own this past year. The textbook being used in my geometry class was somewhat incomplete and too simple so my math teacher, and Geometry team coach, issued me an old copy of this book--Geometry for Enjoyment & Challenge. I sat in the back of class and studied this text. The problems, though challenging, provided the mental stimulation I'd been looking for in a math class. By spring, I was able to put on a very strong showing at a state-level math contest using theorems and skills gained from this book. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to gain a useful grasp of Geometry.

This geometry book is not for the weak. Forget about the days of purely computational geometry. This book is all about proofs. I have found myself learning a great deal about geometry, though.

I was recently a student in a class that used this book. i found the descriptions and problems extremely helpful in my studies. There were some examples of impossible problems, but in the teacher answer book I was shown by my teacher that these were intentional. I strongly reccommend this book to fast pased students who enjoy the fun and challenge of begginer's consept math.

This book is old for a school textbook, but it is still pretty good. The problems are not bad, and explanations are pretty good. I do wish that the book would sometimes give more information on sample problems. Also, more detailed answers in the back of the book would be nice (I doubt the publishers would ever do this nor teachers wouldn't like it!). Still a good book. I like Algebra better than Honors Geometry. I had no choice in texts, I just took what the school gave me. If you want to self-study geometry, this book would probably be good too - although I would advise buying an answer booklet for self-study as you will probably need it.

I am taking a Honors Geometry course, and I find this book a great challenge. It makes you discover things on your own, yet it tells you what you need to know. It is a great text for any Geometry course.

I took Geometry at New Trier (where all of the authors taught) with Dr. Whipple's wife as my teacher back in 1980-81 (the year that the first version of this textbook came out ... we were the test students for it and reveled in finding errors). I'm not sure whether I agree with the reviewer who said that it requires a good teacher (certainly I was blessed to have one of the very best), but I am amazed at how the book has stood the test of time. My children are growing up hundreds of miles from New Trier, but since I kept books like this one, plus every assignment, test and quiz associated with it, I have literally been able to recreate the experience. I doubt that I teach it as well to my children as the Whipples do/did, however my daughter is doing decidedly better than I did (and at a younger age). Perhaps I give the book too much credit, perhaps my experience with it is inextricably linked to having one of the authors as a teacher, but the year i took this course with this teacher changed my life (the year before I received failing grades in Algebra, the year after I finished the Trigonometry class at New Trier with a 104% average (extra credit)). In any case, as I now teach this material to my children, I am VERY impressed by how easy the book is to follow as a textbook, how well the discussions lead to the sample problems which then logically lead to the problem sets. The progression of concepts it employs is equally impressive, leading the reader through the subject in a very logical manner. As I look at it now, I think it really is a "Goldilocks" text (not too hard, not too simple, just right) and I have found it indispensable in educating my children about Geometry. It has my strongest possible recommendation for any young person wanting to learn this subject.

This book is an excellent high-school level book with a no frills approach. The book is well organized, with plenty of problems to master the subject. My nine year-old daughter is using it learn geometry.

I think Geometry for Enjoyment and challenge is an excellent book. Be warned this book is not for everybody because it is challenging, and only a truly motivated student will excel using this book. What I like about this book is that it is not watered down like a lot of Geometry books. The problem with Americas schools are that Geometry Teachers dont teach the subject the right way either by not teaching the material or they teach the students to maximize their test score by regurgitating concepts. This book contradicts several books. This book forces you to think critically like a Mathematician. The best and strongest part of the book are the teaching of proofs (flow chart, Paragraph, and Two-column). Some proofs take 15 to 16 steps.
That is what one of the several things I like about this book, this provides a spark to truly motivated students.

Other strong points are areas of geometric figures, there are problems that involve finding the areas of squares inscribed in circles finding the shaded segment of a hexagon inscribed in a circle. Most geometry books do not have problems of that nature.

One major gripe is that I wish on the solid geometry section, they would put problems involving the areas of a decagonal prism, dodecagonal prism, 20 sided pyramids. Given that this book is easy to say is the most challenging geometry book of all books in America concerning geometry. I wish they would put centimeters, inches, etc. as opposed to units when calculating the perimeter, volume, and surface area.

Other than that it is a great book. I wish this was the standard of geometry books because Americas students need to be challenged, a lot of students want to be challenged. This book does that. In conclusion, this geometry book is the champagne of geometry books.



I enjoyed solving problems from this book on my spare time. I had a horrible experience with a geometry Teacher Named Don Steinke at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, Washington. This idiot could not teach if his life depended on it.

is that most Geometry books try to te

Don't have others to compare, but is a very good Geometry book for 9th graders.