Customer Reviews

Precalculus: With Unit Circle Trigonometry (with CD-ROM and iLrn(TM) Tutorial)

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

 

 

After reading other reviews on this book here on Amazon, I chose it for my independent study of precalc. I don't regret the choice.

I find it particularly well-suited for my learning preferences. Accordingly, this will be a text you will love if:

-you like learning systematically; that is, starting from simple concepts and rapidly building upon them
-you take the time to work many of the problems; the problems are expertly written and do wonders at isolating specific concepts and allowing your mind to be aware of them and master them.
-you enjoy solving problems of a mathematical and logical nature
-you have an interest in the subject that may be slightly broader than simply gaining mastery.

On the last item, the author does an excellent job of weaving tidbits of the miscellaneous and sundry of mathematics and using them to keep the mind interested while also teaching a lesson. Often these concepts are treated within an exercise. There is a good balance between including this extra information and sticking to the core subject. The extra information is never off-topic and keeps the material from becoming too dry while not being annoyingly inserted for the primary purpose of filling space. I am not a great fan of lengthy and marginally useful vignettes in textbooks.

If this is what you're looking for in a precalc textbook, this is the book for you.

At first glance the book appears to cover everything one would need to master before entering calculus;however,this book has the worst examples and ask students to take leaps without explanations of what is going on. The paragraphs are poorly written and do little to expand on what the author is actually trying to convey.The problems in the exercise set are inane and tedious with little relation to the examples given in the opening for each sub-chapter.
Seriously if this is the book you are learning from drop the class or get a supplementary book to help out. Also do not even try to mark with pen or highlight in this book it shows right through the pages.

I expected this book to be a lot more worn than it was, but it was in great condition. It was also a lot cheaper than I could get it anywhere else. Great buy!

This book does not explain itself. It does not explain its sample exercises, and I have barely been able to do any of the exercises without googling a more explanatory online source.

This could well be the worst textbook I've ever seen, in any subject.

The text itself is laid out very poorly.
Paragraphs seem arbitrary, the typeface is difficult to read and examples/sidebars seem randomly placed.
The printstock itself seems nearly onionskin in its thickness making it difficult to note in the margins, highlight, or heaven forbid you need to erase in the book.

The concepts are poorly explained with very few step-by-step examples. Even in the student solution guide, the answers make large leaps between steps.

I'll be quite happy to resell this book at the end of the semester as any college algebra book + Gelfand & Saul's Trigonometry will help you far, far more than Cohen's book ever will.

I learned pre-calculus from this textbook, and now I've been with a youth math program that uses the book for 3 years. This pre-calc book is excellent and is the first book that was of actual use to myself when learning new material.

The examples in the text are clear and helpful, which makes a world of difference with the material. The problems are also well-designed and there are several different types of problems in this book.

Although the price is high and the book is fairly heavy, it is worth it. If you are taking a pre-calc class and this is the required book, rejoice. If you are taking a pre-calc class and it is not and you have problems with pre-calc material, consider getting a 3rd edition of this book (3rd, not 4th, edition -- save on money).

I used this textbook for a trigonometry class. In many of the chapters, the author hardly explained many steps in how to do problems and leaves out important key examples and topics needed to do the homework problems. When the author actually does explain the examples, he gives only either the easiest examples possible or unrelated examples. What I dislike the most is that this author only gives practice problems that do not reinforce topics needed to do the homework problems.

To be honest, I am very frustrated with this book. My biggest complaint about it is that the examples that are worked out (not explained mind you) often times have no connection to the homework problems. In fact the homework problems are always much more difficult, so the textbook doesn't prepare you for what you need to know. It is beyond me how the author thinks we can solve the homework problems, if he fails to show how they are approached in the first place. This author has no business writing textbooks and I haven't a clue why my college went with the book in the first place.

Came in the mail quite quickly and is in very good condition. No tears, scratches or anything. just a few pencil marks on a few pages. Definitely not complaining considering how much money this saved me! (:

the book was in great condition and it came with the CD-ROM which is always impossible to find when buying a used book. I am very pleased with the item though the price was a bit high.