Customer Reviews

Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell: Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a great tool for those who have been away from algebra, geometry, and trig for a short while. The author treats one to a 'no nonsense' crash course in basic concepts. This being the case, the book is fast paced and very crisp. There is not much 'hand holding' here. Topics are explained quite well and to the point with a good number of exercises.

One caveat though. If you have been away from math for say 10 - 20 years you will often get lost wading through the material. The text does assume that one's thinking process is still attuned to basic skills such as the "two sign change" rule in a compound expression. Therefore if you find that you have forgotten the tricks involved in things like factoring you will be better served to first go with say "Practical Algebra: A self teaching Guide" and "Geometry and Trig for Calculus". Both by Selby et al.

However, if you've been away from math for only a short time (< 5 years), by all means get this book.

As a dyed-in-the-wool math-phobe (with but one year
of high-school algebra and a year of high-school
geometry 15 years earlier), I thoroughly chewed through
this little book over a summer and then launched
into the first semester of Calculus (taught in the
traditional style, not "Calculus-reform style) at a
rather rigorous Math/Science/Engineering oriented
university. In that Calculus class, I generally got
100% on each quiz and exam (and most of my classmates
with a more typical pre-engineering background
did not). Take it for what it's worth, but I credit
this book. Very compressed, but very clear. You will
note that I successfully substituted this book for two
semesters of the usual pre-calculus math sequence,
and I doubt this would have worked for me if the book
were missing any important pre-calculus material.

This is one of my very favorite math books of all time. As a survivor of the deplorable California education system in the sixties and seventies, I had to teach myself math because most of my teachers didn't either didn't know how to teach basic math or else they didn't understand it themselves. I used this book! I have had my copy for around twenty years and it is all beaten up and filled with highlighting and notes. I have shown it to friends whenever they needed help and they have asked to buy my copy off me, but I refuse to sell it. I send them here instead.

Also, I recommended this book to a friend and walked her though the basics so that she regained her cofidence and knowledge enough to pass the GMAT within a couple of weeks!

In my opinion, this book gives it all to you -- the basics -- without getting "cutesy" or patronizing -- which is what many of the new "easy to understand" precalculus books unfortunately do. Nor does it leave out substance, which is what you need if you are trying to pass or master this subject. What more could you ask?

One thing to keep in mind, though, if you want to practice your math, use this book with an additional book of problems. There really isn't enough problems in the book for practice. But then, that was not the author's intention, anyway. You should know that when you buy it, though.

This is one of the best concise texts on the subject of Precalculus Mathematics. It covers all one needs to know to make them comfortable in dealing with the deep dark world of higher mathematics. I found the book so outstanding that I use it as a precourse my Fundamentals of Engineering Review course where calculus and higher math must be totally understood to pass this tough State Board Exam. Excellent work!

The book's title says it all. At a time when thousand-page tomes on basic geometry, algebra, and trignometry full of worthless color pictures have become commonplace; it is refreshing to see a book that shows just how simple and beautiful basic mathematics can be.

I would recommend this to anyone who appreciates mathematics--not just students.

This is an absolutely SUPERB text covering three of the most hated subjects in the entirety of the world! Akin to O'Reilly 'Nutshell' titles, this "Nutshell" book is exactly what its namesake implies: this is not a comprehensive or definitive tome of hundreds of pages to make you a geometry/algebra/trig pro. Therefore, don't expect it to be such. (Some people review non-definitive texts on Amazon, give them like one star, and complain that they believed the book was incomprehensive...DUH!)

While George Simmons has a very fresh, crisp, and fluid writing style which makes concepts easy to grasp, he doesn't stop to explain basic concepts or "on the cuff" calculations. Therefore, this very small and "skinny" book would be excellent for someone who may need some memory refreshing of particular topics or a quick overview of certain subjects. And it is in this manner that this book greatly succeeds; in fact, I plan on using it as a desktop reference into the the very forseeable future, probably forever.

Another notch on this book's belt are George Simmons' drawn examples. They are simple, straightforward, and blatantly expand the text in reference to the appropriate figure. These apparently handwritten sketches look like something out of da Vinci's notebooks!

A hands down winner, no question. (This review is in reference to the 1997 edition of this book, ISBN# 0760606603.)

Simmons' book cuts to the chase. Instead of wasting time with 800 to 1,000 (or more!) pages of tedium -- you can review, work problems, and get on to calculus! It is as simple as it can be -- but is no simpler.

By all means, get this book even if you've just recently taken geometry, algebra or trig. Not only is this a good refresher, but also a good reference book. Simmons' explanations and drawings are so precise, so logical, and so coherent that not only could I remember what I learned 9-13 years ago, but I found enjoyment in doing the problems. For the first time ever, I saw the point to geometry.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book: "... even though very few people become surveyors or navigators, the students who study [trigonometry] books are expected to undertake many lengthy calculations about heights of flagpoles, the widths of rivers and the positions of ships at sea. The truth is that the primary importance of trigonometry lies in a comopletely different direction- in the mathematical description of vibrations, rotations, and periodic phenomena of all kinds, including light, sound, alternating currents and the orbits of the planets around the sun. What matters most in the subject is not making computations about triangles, but grasping the trigonometric functions as indispensable tools in science, engineering and higher mathematics..."

If it were possible, I'd rate this book six stars.

As a professor who teaches Capital Markets in a Masters program in Finance, I only wish that all my students came prepared with this much math (let alone, basic calculus).

To answer criticisms first. This is not a book to learn pre-calculus math from, with no previous exposure -- the explanations are too condensed; the reader is expected to fill-in key steps from his/her previous knowledge.

However, for those reviewing topics for which they already have some understanding, I cannot think of a better book. It cuts down to the essence what often takes 500, verbose pages. It is a excellent summary that requires the reader to be active and think through the steps along the way.

Again, for those who have previously studied the topic, what would be a good follow-on for elementary calculus? Probably, either Spivak:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Calculus-Michael-Spivak/dp/0883858126/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257190231&sr=1-17

or Kleppner and Ramsey:

http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Calculus-Self-Teaching-Guide-2nd/dp/0471827223/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257190721&sr=1-1

Personally, I would slightly prefer Kleppner and Ramsey (because it goes a little further, without sacrificing understanding).

I bought this book on sale, and consider it a real find. If only more high schools used texts like this, maybe there'd be a lot less students with a phobia of mathematics.