96 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm going back to college because of this book!, June 26, 2001
In '93, I withdrew from college because I could not pass pre-algebra. I never took algebra in high school, so I was lost in my college pre-algebra class by the second week. My professor told me to withdraw in order to save my GPA which was quite high.
Fast forward to 2001. I bought this book and it really opened my eyes! I can see where I made my mistakes in class and I can understand the concepts that my prof. and a tutor could not get me to understand. Everything seems so simple now--some of my past mistakes were very simple ones!
This book is real easy to understand. The book breaks down each concept and the problems are broken down step by step so it's real easy to see what you have to do. It took me only a half-hour to memorize the Order of Operations and apply that to the problems. If you use this in tandem with a book you have for a class, it will make things really easy. The books takes you from the beginning (what a variable is) all the way to graphing two dimensions on a graphing table.
My husband who was a math whiz in school looked at this book and said it's an Algebra 1 book. I'm hoping to understand the concepts thoroughly so I can take a Pre-Algebra placement test and pass for credit.
The only negative things I have to say are that there aren't enough problems to work on. And, my husband said it was a shame that there was only ONE problem (at the end of the book) that shows graphing in three dimensions. He said since the author put that in, she should have continued on with more problems for that concept, or she should have left it out.
I'm just so happy about the fact that I can finally understand Algebra! It's like a lightbulb went off in my head. Now, I'm going back to college to finish my degree!
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46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Algebra Made Really Clear!, February 19, 2000
What a wonderful book! While it does not have as many exercises as some of the bigger books, it does a great job of making algebra clear and easy. There were some sections of algebra that other books left me feeling confused about; Painless Algebra cleared up my questions right away, and I was surprised at how quickly I understood it! I just wish there was a Painless Geometry, Painless Trig, Painless Calculus... That's a hint to the author! :)
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now I Get It!, November 22, 2003
By A Customer
Time to go back to college. Math was never my strongest subject. In fact it was my weakest. I had forgotten almost everything I learned in Algebra.
I tried two books that claimed to make algebra a breeze. Promises. Promises.
Then I bought PAINLESS ALGEBRA for a mere $8.95 and was pleased to find clear step by step explainations. Explanations that didn't require three readings before they made sense.
I think the best way to approach the book is by reviewing the previous chapter before you begin a new chapter.
A minor complaint: Too few exercises, as is the case with most of these types of books. But you can always find a workbook that will have problems for you to work out and the answers.
Being mathematically challenged I recommend this book.
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