Customer Reviews

Head First Algebra: A Learner's Guide to Algebra I

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

 

 

It was rather hard for me to review this book, since algebra is the basis for studies in more complex branches of mathematics, and once you know it, it is rather like describing how it is that you know how to walk. However, this does seem to be an excellent book that starts at the beginning and even before. If you have problems with basic mathematics the book has two appendices that talk about "what's left over" including the graphing calculators that were certainly not part of my algebra education back in the 1970's but are vital to learning the subject now. The other appendix is all about pre-algebra mathematics, starting with the basic addition and subtraction of integers. Since all students don't need this kind of brush-up, it is left as an extra feature.

Word problems are usually what strikes fear into students of algebra. This book helps a great deal with that since the whole book is basically about solving "word problems". The last chapter is explicitly devoted to it and is entitled "real world algebra". This book has you solving algebra problems and learning its principles without getting what I like to call math stage fright by using the same principles that work so well in the other "head first" books. There are frequent puzzles, Q&A sessions, and plenty of pictorial representations of the problems that are being solved.

Even if you get this book, a good Schaum's outline is always a good cheap source of extra problems even if they can come up short on explanation. I highly Schaum's Outline of Intermediate Algebrarecommend for that purpose. In addition, it also has additional explanations of some of the same material that is in this book so that you have some reinforcement in the realm of explanation just in case you need it. The following is the table of contents of the book, since it is currently missing from the product description.

Chapter 1. what is algebra?
Chapter 2. 2 (more) complicated equations
Chapter 3. rules for numeric operations
Chapter 4. exponent operations
Chapter 5. graphing
Chapter 6. inequalities
Chapter 7. systems of equations
Chapter 8. expanding binomials & factoring
Chapter 9. quadratic equations
Chapter 10. functions
Chapter 11. real-world algebra
Appendix A. leftovers
Section A.1. #1 Negative Exponents
Section A.2. Working with negative exponents
Section A.3. Negative exponents also give you flexibility
Section A.4. #2 Table of values for graphing
Section A.5. #3 Absolute value equations
Section A.6. #4 Calculators
Section A.7. #5 More practice, especially for factoring
Appendix B. pre-Algebra review
Section B.1. Algebra starts with numbers
Section B.2. How do you work with negative numbers?
Section B.3. Addition and subtraction of integers
Section B.4. Working with mixed integers
Section B.5. Multiplication and division of integers
Section B.6. The rules for integer signs - multiplication and division
Section B.7. Absolute Value
Section B.8. Number sets - all together
Section B.9. The number sets
Section B.10. How decimals communicate
Section B.11. Addition and subtraction with decimals
Section B.12. Decimal multiplication
Section B.13. Decimal division
Section B.14. Let's do some division!
Section B.15. Special decimals
Section B.16. Working with percents
Section B.17. Fractions
Section B.18. Fractions show parts of a whole
Section B.19. Fraction multiplication
Section B.20. Fraction division mixes numerators and denominators
Section B.21. Improper fractions
Section B.22. Divide to make an improper fraction proper
Section B.23. More about improper fractions
Section B.24. Invert a fraction to get its reciprocal
Section B.25. Fraction division - option #2
Section B.26. Adding and subtracting fractions
Section B.27. You need a common denominator
Section B.28. Equivalent fractions get you matching denominators
Section B.29. Use the lowest common denominator for addition
Section B.30. Fraction addition and subtraction training
Section B.31. Dividing by one doesn't change the value
Section B.32. Reduce fractions by dividing by 1
Section B.33. Factor trees can eliminate lots of little steps
Section B.34. Pick out the prime factors
Section B.35. Reduce fractions with the factor tree
Section B.36. Putting it all together - fractions
Section B.37. Converting decimals to fractions
Section B.38. Conversions everywhere
Section B.39. Division by Zero doesn't work
Section B.40. Sometimes multiplication takes forever!
Section B.41. Is there a shorter way?
Section B.42. Why does all this matter?

On a Thursday I found out I needed to take a college placement test on Monday and this test included higher math, including Algebra, which I hadn't studied in 30 year.

I hit the local Barnes & Noble and came home with three books on Algebra, and over the next 2.5 days worked through a good chunk of all of them, allowing me to do some good side-by-side comparisons.

I liked the verbose teaching style and constant use of fairly realistic examples in this book. I like that they explain some things that other books just assume you know, and therefore don't mention.

I like all the "hand-written" side notes and arrows and diagrams, and the contrived "discussions" after many topics; all these help get you thinking and remembering what you've just read, and worked on.

This book is the closest thing to being in a classroom. I say this, because many of the notes and arrows, which I just referred to, are similar to questions and answers that would probably take place in real classroom after a teacher introduced one of these topics. For example, after introducing linear graphing, a teacher would certain get questions like "But what's the point of doing this? What does it accomplish?". This book spends lots of time answering questions like these, really helping you understand that topic and answering lots of questions that would probably come up in your own mind as well.

I would give this book a better rating but they really missed the mark in one area: accuracy. Early on in the book I found several errors in the answer that really discouraged me. I thought I had misunderstood a topic and went back over the material several times till I finally just concluded they'd gotten it wrong.

This is not acceptable, folks. It's clear that LOTS of work went into this book, couldn't a little time have been spent making sure the answers were correct?

'Head First Algebra: A Learner's Guide to Algebra I' is quite simply the best book in the line of Head First publications for the following reasons:

1. The writing is outstanding, examples are relative and easy to follow and there are plenty of different ways to present the data within.

2. The Head First line of books are targeted towards individuals that want to be entertained while learning. With the target audience being high school students, this is the exact group that will be doing algebra and wanting to be entertained.

3. Content is logically broken up over 500+ pages and 11 chapters. The authors really got it right with showing the different facets of algebra I in the right order and way.

If you are a student learning algebra you owe it to yourself to pick up this book. I loved math when I was a student and would have loved to have learned it this way.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I generally review books for the homeschool market up through twelfth grade, so I first looked at this as a possibility for use in high school. While it covers the material for an Algebra 1 course just fine, the presentation tends to limit the audience to college and young adults.
The book uses lots of life situations within which problems and their solutions are presented. The life situations include, for example, computing the costs of bringing along a group of friends on a road trip to a concert, determining amounts of ingredients to make punch for a New Year's party, determining placement of a water balloon catapult for frat warfare, and computing costs of operating a profitable lawn business. All of these are addressed to a young adult rather than high school audience.
The style of the presentation is very engaging, especially for those who appreciate all the extra visuals--arrows, and "scibbled" notes to explain things that a teacher might be mentioning in a classroom situation, very casual and direct language, photos of real people commenting in cartoon bubbles on the lesson content, crossword puzzles for practice and review, and more graphics than you generally find in an algebra text.
Those who haven't studied math for a few years will likely appreciate the review of pre-algebra 63-page section at the back of the book. The pre-algebra is presented in manner similar to the rest of the book, but students can refer to this section as needed... or not.
Solutions are included, and no teacher instruction is required, so Head First Algebra really works well for a student working totally independently.

I purchased this book to prepare for my first semester back to college at 10 years away. Math was never my strongest suit but I will need a significant amount of math courses to get through my degree.

A couple pages into the book it became clear that I was rustier than I had originally thought. I was going to give up on it and then I saw there was a pre-algebra review in an appendix, so I worked though it. It was the perfect pace for a refresher and I easily transitioned into chapter one.

I followed the instructions and worked in the book prior to going to sleep so the info would stick (and as a result I ended up dreaming about math every night), and the left brain activities were perfect to release the tension in my brain and enabled me to cover more material each evening.

That said, after just working through the pre-algebra appendix and chapters 1 & 2, I have already come across three incorrect solutions presented in the book, two of which were in the pre-algebra fractions review, which is a scary and frustrating subject for a lot of people. I was on the verge of tears because I thought I just was too dumb to understand fractions, before I realized the error was in the book, not in my math.

Also some of the problems are a little bit convoluted and don't really fit the lesson they are trying to teach.

As much as I love the set-up, style and pace of this book, incorrect answers are inexcusable.

This is a clear and excellent guide to high school and elementary college algebra. Having had amazing and mediocre math instruction from junior high to graduate school, and having tutored high school students I can testify that this excellent series makes use of carefully researched instructional methods, and that this most exceptional volume in the series recognizes that all students learn differently. It uses visual and verbal examples, prompted and explained student problem solving and occasional well-placed humor to make sure that all students "Get It".

I can attest that this is a clear, multi-method guide with which any student can teach themselves to excel at Elementary Algebra.
--Ira Laefsky

As expected by the series "Head First" the book is very illustrative on everything it explains and has stimulating exercises on the subjects presented. Overall it's a good book for anyone that want to have rapid overview of algebra. It's prepared to be used on high classes, but don't expect it to be helpful during college (unless you've forgotten the basics of algebra from high school, like me).

Any struggling through a college algebra class needs HEAD FIRST ALGEBRA, which takes advantage of the latest brain research to design a user-friendly guide packed with real-world applications. From stories to diagrams and easy charts, this is actually an engaging method of learning, not a challenge. High school to college-level libraries will find it a top pick.

It's been a while since I've taken Math classes, so I needed a refresher. I've always been more keen on English than Math, so I wanted a book that offered context, not just rules. After going through several, I can confidently recommend this book. I wish this book existed when I started learning Algebra for the first time, as it really helps you understand the benefit of Algebra, not just how to solve endless equations. As with all heads up books (I've read several of their programming books), it presents a complex topic in a light and visual way.

It's really worth getting.

I liked this book. Why? I had an excellent algebra teacher in high school, and as I went through the book, I could hear his clear, concise instructions again. This is the second Head First book I've reviewed, the first was Head First Physics. In contrast to that book, I believe this book could be used as a textbook in high school algebra. Many math teachers are not gifted; their students are reduced to pouring through the text, scouring the examples to try and figure out what's going on. This book in many ways can substitute for a good algebra teacher, and it could make a good teacher even better.

The book proceeds in the usual Head First manner, using conversations about "real world" situations designed to attract young people's attention (how big a gaming system can I afford?). There is much more effort given to an explanation of the process of evaluating expressions and problems, there is less given to working through many problems. The use of a book of algebra problems would an excellent adjunct to this book, think of this book as the instructor, and the problem book to be utilized for homework to cement the problem solving algorithms necessary for long term retention of the steps of problem solving.

The book would also be useful for the adult who missed out on algebra, and may be wondering what he/she missed. The approach is very non-threatening and relaxed, the explanations don't use technical math jargon. Where technical terms are used, they're associated with an easy to understand explanation. The pace feels much slower than many introductory algebra books, but the necessary meat is there.

In short, highly recommended