Customer Reviews

Trigonometry Demystified (TAB Demystified)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

First off, I'm not afraid of math--I had a 100% in my college algebra class last semester, and I bought this book to get a quick overview of trigonometry to give myself an edge before taking a formal class. I bought this book because I had been very satisfied with Algebra: Demystified, and had assumed that all books in the Demystified series would be of a comparably high quality, but I was sadly mistaken. This book is terrible--it will not teach you trigonometry. Mr. Gibilisco wastes lots of space giving you no brainer advice like a whole paragraph on why you should use your calculator if needed or reviewing simple things like the Order of Operations. On the other hand, he gives a formula for circular motion in the first chapter and doesn't even bother to explain the variables or provide an example of it. The second chapter, appropriately titled, "A Flurry of Facts" is an endless series of formulas, most of which don't come with examples. Furthermore, the book doesn't have sufficient exercises. There are only 10 multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter, and they don't have solutions, not to mention that examples of similar problems within the chapter were strangely absent. Although I was able to score 100% on both of the first 2 chapter tests, I gave up in the middle of the third chapter because I realized that if I really wanted to learn trigonometry, I should go elsewhere. Once I have found a better text, I'll edit this review to refer you to it.

This is without a doubt, one of the worst books i've ever read on any math subject. The examples in the beginning are moderately straight forward and can be followed but as the book progresses the author becomes increasingly stingy with explanations. The level of straight formula presentation such as in the section on hyperbolic functions is useless. He presents page after page of formula, with no explanation of use. At the end of this useless display, he ask how one would derive a new equation from the previous old ones. Even the explanation given for how to do this is obscure. Each chapter test the aquired knowledge. The answer key is no more than a series of a,b,d,e each indicating which multiple choice answer was correct. He shows NO work for any of the test problems. All in all, this book has been an extremely frustrating experience. It hasn't turned me off my desire to learn math but has helped me to realise their are charlatans in the math world.

I have been trying to improve my career through remembering most of the math concepts like geometry, trigonometry, calculus. To do this I have been pursuiting the reviews of books from amazon.com to get the books for.

Another day I have bought this book without reading any comments about it because the other algebra book was fine and from the same publisher I loved. But I am disappointed.

The book starts from the basics and trying to transfer the ideas to you in a as roughly way as possible. Defines sin, cos stuff but never *fully* explains what they really are. And top of them continues to put more un-fully-defined bricks to show how your stability goes far.

I am not recommending it to anyone who tries to learn (or remember) the concepts and have a feeling about them.

This book presents trigonometry in a relatively informal and understandable way. Emphasis is on the facts, without getting sidetracked in proofs. The drawings are relevant and straightforward. The book is well-organized and proceeds logically from beginning to end. There are some question-and-answer problems in the text (although I'd like to see more) and plenty of multiple-choice test questions with answers in the appendix. The test questions are especially good, because they resemble the standardized tests schoolchildren are forced to take these days. The four-dimentional stuff is cool (but may be over the top for some readers). This book, combined with a standard school textbook, should make high-school students highly proficient in this subject, and get them ready for more advanced courses such as calculus, analysis, and topology.

This book, like many math books, lacks a logical progression and mystifies Trig even more. A person trying to learn it for the first time would just give up and move on to something else.

Like another reveiwer, I also was very pleased with the Algebra Demystified book. As a long-time math disaster, I was able to test out of remedial Math and start College Algebra with a good foundation as a direct result of Albegra Demystified. After taking College Algebra, I returned to the Demystified Series to ramp me up on Trigonometry. I found that the author simply fails to explain his steps adequately. He makes too many assumptions about knowledge the student will possess. In fact, fresh out of College Algebra with a respectable high B, I was non-plussed after the earliest pages of Trigonometry Demystified, and actually found myself referring to my Algebra/Trigonometry textbook from college to clarify topics.

I am a math dummy. I bought this book at a local store because it looked like I could maybe understand it. I do. For the first time I feel like I know something about trigonometry. Too many math books are just professors showing each other how smart they are. This book taught me something without making me feel stupid. It's the only trig book I have ever seen like this.

This book was my "aha!" experience for trigonometry. The author started off using circle functions instead of triangle relationships as a way to explain sine, cosine, etc. This made immediate sense to me; from there, it was easy to understand why each is positive or negative in the various quadrants, why sin^2 + cos^2=1, etc. Why all trig courses aren't taught this way is a mystery.
No doubt there are some shortcomings to this book. However, if you want to quickly develop a strong intuitive understanding of trigonometry, this is an excellent purchase.

My two sons used this book to help them understand their pre-calculus courses. It was also a big help for them in physics and astronomy.

This individual,Stan Gibilisco, continues to write book after book despite his inability to write a math book.

The first book of his that I purchased, Technical Math, was so badly written that it was totally useless. I swore that I would never buy another book by this author.

I evidently forgot his name until I purchased this book. However after starting the first chapter and not believing a math book could be so badly written, his name hit me.

This time fortunately I was able to return the book.

Evidently publishers do not read readers reviews. Or maybe they don't care because some poor sap, that is not familiar with the author, will purchase his book. If they did care, they wouldn't hire him for another book.
Some of the subjects sound really interesing until you see who the auther is and then you know to forget it....