Customer Reviews

Geometry and Trigonometry for Calculus (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There is no such thing as a student who is "slow" in understanding. There is however a teacher who does not master the art of communicating. A good student memorizes in order to pass a grade. A slow student is normally bugged by the "why" of everything. However I have had the honor of solving engineering problems for students from MIT and other top Universities because my professors were able to explain the "why" to me.

Mr. Peter H. Selby is an excellent author. You flow through his pages without having to read over paragraphs several times in order to understand the sense of his explanations without stress and fatigue. There is no guessing nor ambiguous wording. It is difficult to put down his book for the day. I look forward to his future books.

This book will serve you well as a refresher in geometry and trig. Major facets of both subjects are dealt with in a brief but highly effective manner. There are just the right number of examples and exercises. This book can also be used as a auxillary text for first year college students. What a pleasure to read and DO some of the problems. I wish I had this crutch when I was sweating bullets learning calculus back in 1961. The trig portion is somewhat shallow but all in all a excellent book.

I like the no non-sense presentation of the material. The book moves very quickly. It is dense in topics, but the presentation is very readable. You'll often wonder why you're not further into the book... yet you feel that you have really covered a lot of material.

The explanations are great. And I have found that by answering the questions, that I catch tiny little mistakes in my understanding.

I picked up this book after a debate with one of my friends over a trig question. I am very satisfied with my purchase and highly recommend this book.

John D.

What a great book. The chapters are excellent and full of exciting knowledge and excercises. I always wondered how people calculated the distance between the moon and earth, after reading this book I have great many tools in my hand to do the same. I have been using this book in the true sense and spirit that it was written... as a self teaching guide; What a pleasure it has been to find this gem.

This is truly a great book, for both the novice and the expert. As an Engineering student at Century University, this book opened my eyes to the Philosophy behind mathematics specially, Calculus and Trigonometry. Moreover, the author makes great use of step-by-step illustrations and instructions of how to resolve some of the more complex equations. However, don't take my word for it...try it yourself!

Mr. Selby's book has given my mind a "rebirth" on subjects fading into the past. His text is very well organized and very clear. I very much appreciate his text, and highly recommend it specially to college students and "old timers!.

An excellent text for learning or refreshing your memory on geometry. I felt the sections on trigonometry could have been better, but overall a helpful book.

The best and most enjoyable way to learn math is through practice, and although Peter H. Selby articulately explains the concepts presented in this book, there just aren't enough exercises for you to "teach yourself" the subject. A given section on plane geometry will give you about 15 abstract principles followed by 5 easy practice exercises. I have learned from this book, but in order to do so, I've had to make flashcards and do lots and lots of rereading to help me memorize the vocabulary and rules. This book would be okay for someone who just needs a quick refresher, but if you really want to learn the material, I would suggest buying separate 350-400 page books for each subject.

This particular calculus study guide is clearly oriented for those whom are considering engineering or science related fields as business calculus will have less of a need of geometry and trigonometry. For those whom are interested in engineering/science fields and struggled a bit in geometry or trig, then this text can be a great support to have by your side during your precalc class OR for self-study/review after precalc and before calculus.

Indeed, there are several circumstances in which this self-study text can be used.

1) If you are in precalculus and struggling and wondering what parts are really important for calculus next year/semester.

2) If you took precalculus last year/semester and want a study guide (besides your old textbook) to get ready for Calculus. Indeed, for high school students this may be a great summer book to work through after precalc to assure you're ready for Calculus.

3) If you took precalc many years ago and want a refresher, or even if you took Calculus 1 many years ago and want to review the prerequisites prior to refreshing your calculus.

There is a final chapter on Limits which will be covered in the start of Calculus 1 and which can probably be skipped. There is a stronger emphasis on "focus" and "foci" than in many precalc books so this may make some students think, "Why didn't my teacher cover this?" Also, there's a trig table... just remember the book was originally published in 1975 and so a couple of emphases are now slightly different but overall the value of the text remains high as a supplement.

This book is excellent. I don't believe that I can find anything wrong with this book.

Some readers are saying that this book has too small of a font, or that the binding is loose, or that the book offers little in explanations to the awnsers for the practice problems. These are simply false. The font is a size twelve by most computer's standard font, if you can't see that small get glasses. If some books are falling apart stop throwing them or bending the spine. The explanation part is true in that the book doesn't say things like "the reason this is the awnser is..." However, I feel that the explanation of how geometry works and what it's rules are, is sufficient for the reader to analyse why the awnser is what it is. If you cannot do this it may be adviseable to bring the problem in question to a friend or teacher knowledgeable in geometry (I mean this in the kindest of manners).

Over all the book is clear and quick to the point. Some people may find it a bit dry in that there is no humor really or any stories, strictly instructional. Some may find it difficult to remember things this way or to read a book written in such a manner.

This book is written so that a reader who has no knowledge about geometry can understand it.

Overall a five star book and worth the price and then some.

(Please forgive anything mispelled I didn't have time to check this review.)