Mathematics with Applications (8th Edition) [Hardcover]

Margaret L. Lial (Author), Thomas W. Hungerford (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201755297 | ISBN-13: 978-0201755299 | Publication Date: July 29, 2002 | Edition: 8

Best known for realistic and varied applications, an abundance of helpful pedagogy, and solid algebra review, the new edition of this text offers updated and new applications, and increased optional graphing calculator technology. - NEW! New full color design is used pedagogically for clearer understanding of figures and concepts. - NEW! MyMathLab is now available for this text for the first time. All of the texts many electronic resources can be found on MyMathLab. - NEW! MathXL is now available for the text, allowing students to take tests and quizzes online. - NEW! A Finite Version of the text is now available, which includes Chapters 1-10. - Applications. A wide variety of realistic and timely applications are featured, both in text examples and problem sets. Many are based on real data cited from journals and periodicals. Application problems are labeled by subject: management, social science, natural science, or physical science. An Index of Applications groups applications by these categories. - Case Studies. Chapter-ending case studies based on real data give students the opportunity to further apply all theyve learned in the chapter. - Technology Tips. For those who choose to use graphing technology, Technology Tips inform students of various features on their graphing calculators and give specific directions for accessing them. - Graphing Calculator Program Appendix now available for those who choose to use graphing calculators. Appendix includes two types of programs: those that do tasks discussed in the text, and those that update functions in older model calculators. - Margin Exercises allow students to get immediate feedback on their understanding of the material. - Writing and conceptual exercises promote critical thinking and deeper understanding of the mathematics. - Connection Exercises require students to call on material studied in earlier sections. - A flexible organization allows instructors to pick and choose the topics they would like to cover.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marge Lial was always interested in math; it was her favorite subject in the first grade! Marge's intense desire to educate both her students and herself has inspired the writing of numerous best-selling textbooks. Marge, who received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from California State University at Sacramento, is now affiliated with American River College.

Marge is an avid reader and traveler. Her travel experiences often find their way into her books as applications, exercise sets, and feature sets. She is particularly interested in archeology. Trips to various digs and ruin sites have produced some fascinating problems for her textbooks involving such topics as the building of Mayan pyramids and the acoustics of ancient ball courts in the Yucatan.

---

Thomas W. Hungerford received his bachelor¿s degree from Holy Cross and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He taught for seventeen years at the University of Washington (Seattle) before coming to Cleveland State University, where is he is professor of mathematics. He has written a number of research articles in algebra and several in mathematics education. Dr. Hungerford is the author or co-author of more than a dozen mathematics textbooks, ranging from high school to graduate level, several of which are published by Addison-Wesley. He is active in promoting the use of technology in mathematics instruction and was one of the founders of the Cleveland Collaborative for Mathematics Education (C2ME), an ongoing project involving local universities, businesses, and mathematics teachers. Dr. Hungerford is also a referee and reviewer for various mathematical journals and has frequently served on National Science Foundation panels for selecting grant recipients.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 936 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 8 edition (July 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201755297
• ISBN-13: 978-0201755299
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "Since you should already know this, I'll skip the details", June 22, 2003

By 

Eric Wise (cedar rapids, ia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mathematics with Applications (8th Edition) (Hardcover)

...that is the attitude of the lazy author. It assumes too much prior knowledge of math and especially algebra. Granted, prior to taking a class that requires this book, you should have some. Well, I do. Nonetheless, it should still cover it as a review since it is so difficult. For example, in chapter 8, graphing equations is covered. It goes right from the equation to the graph. It skips all the algebraic steps inbetween needed to get from one to the other and gives no explanation of graphing. I know...the author is thinking we should already know that. But if we do, why do we need this book? This author seems to be tremendously lazy. Since she assumes we know so much already, what purpose does this book serve? Maybe a review for those already well versed in math. Many have criticized it for lack of examples. There are plenty of examples, what there is not, is detailed explanations or examples which repeat a concept to get it to sink in. Many times she will list only one true example which gives a full explanation of how to solve a problem (ie simplex method). All subsequent examples in the same or other sections or chapters that rely on using the same method of problem solving will skip that key step and jump right to the newly presented material. Perhaps a mention will be made to solve the first few steps as "we did before". Yeah, lets hope you understood where and how that key step was done before in the ONE example where it was actually explained. In the case of row operations involved in the simplex method, a good portion of the book builds on that method of problem solving. So you are working from one decent initial example since she is too lazy to repeat row operations in the simplex method chapter. An even better example of the mindlessness of this book is the example of instantaneous rate of change in 12.2. No explanation whatsoever - heres the problem, heres a bunch of unexplained nummbers, heres the answer, dont ask how we solved it because...again...you should already know this.

To get through parts of this nightmare I used another book called Mathematical Ideas by Miller, Hereen, Hornsby. That book is what this one should strive to be. Good details and assumes little knowledge. I had to read quite a bit from it fill in the gaps left out in this. Unfortunately, it doesnt cover everything in this one. My advice would be to get a more elementary level math book covering algebra, calculus, graphing, finance, etc. to assist with this one, since this author is too lazy to explain how she got from point a to b. It would be better if you didn't have to use this one but sadly, professors make that decision for us. However, they will regret it in the end when we bug them for help since the book they chose is useless.

If you think mine is the only bad review, read the many similar reviews of previous editions of this book.

I will say, the student workbook that comes separately is pretty good. It gives the solutions to, in most cases, the odd numbered problems from the book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worse than useless., September 6, 2004

By 

Bama Engineer "Dad" (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mathematics with Applications (8th Edition) (Hardcover)

I'm an engineer. Although I'm not a mathematition, for twenty years, I have used math in my work. This semester, my wife enrolled in a class at the university in which this was the assigned text. I was totally astonished how this author could take the simplest concept "the function" and make it utterly uninteligible. This is not new material. We honestly don't need a new book for it. The book my father used back in 1940-something would be better than this mush - and far cheaper too. This textbook is worse than useless.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Unintelligible, June 29, 2005

By 

GetYourLeash "GetYourLeash" (MD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mathematics with Applications (8th Edition) (Hardcover)

I am currently taking a math course where this book is used. It is useless and expensive! While I don't consider my instructor particularly adept at teaching, he is a valuable resource in understanding many key points in the book. Whatever language the author writes in, it's not the language of math nor the English language. Any points the author tries to emphasize get lost in a garbled mess of words. All of the assumptions made by the author are unfair to students who have simply tested out of other math courses and are unfortunately stuck taking this one. This text is awful, and even worse for someone trying their best to study this stuff and do well. I'm stuck...