Customer Reviews

Trigonometry Workbook For Dummies

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

 

 

I was in a bit of a quandary as to how to rate this book. I bought the book and the companion "Trigonometry for Dummies" to refresh my trig skills, long rusted after nearly 50 years of little use. Both books are really quite good although the workbook could be more comprehensive. The big problem with this workbook, and to a lesser extent with the "Trigonometry for Dummies" book, is the large number of errors and typos in the book. One works out a very complicated identity problem only to find that the stated problem is different from the problem answered due to typographical errors. I don't think I went seven pages without finding an error. Most of the errors were changed minus or plus signs. This made maintaining confidence in the book very difficult.

One would think that a big publisher like Wiley would employ competent proofreaders. I would also expect them to have an errata sheet somewhere on their web page. But, nooo, nothing helpful there at all except a glossary they forgot to put in the main trig book.

Overall, both books were very helpful, with the exception of not having a lot of confidence that the answer to the problem I was trying to solve would be correct.

If you have never done trigonometry before, Sterling gives a gentle introduction. She assumes some previous acquaintance with geometry and simple algebra and analytic geometry. But not too much of the latter, so don't let this scare you off.

The trig concepts are slowly introduced and explained at some length. With plenty of examples. Now, you really should tackle as many of the problems as possible. Yes, it takes time. But if you want a solid, fluid grasp of trig, you have to spend the time to familiarise yourself with sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant and cosecant.

There are certainly numerous relationships between these functions. You don't have to know all of them. But being acquainted with them, and knowing where to look for formulae in a book like this is useful.

With a full-time, year-round math tutoring practice, the Workbook For Dummies series is the primary tool that I use during the Summer to help students get a head start on the math courses that they will be taking during the next school year. At this age, most students are not used to learning on their own, so they all meet with me at least once per week for a tutoring session, and I teach them the material. I have found the Trigonometry Workbook For Dummies to be sufficiently comprehensive and challenging.

The book starts out with a review of prerequisite algebra and geometry. Usually, students have not had geometry for a full school year, so this works out great. After that, the book is definitely not a cake walk, as the students first learn the concept of radians, then proceed to trigonometric functions and identities. Much of the material continues from where they left of in geometry. Just as Algebra II is a continuation of Algebra I, Trigonometry is a continuation of Geometry.

Compared to using a textbook and notebook or binder, one of the biggest advantages of this workbook is convenience. It is relatively inexpensive. It is thin, lightweight, and space is provided to work each problem directly on the pages. Reading is kept to a concise minimum, without sacrificing necessary content. The book is primarily composed of problems to be worked. This allows the student to learn by doing. The number of problems given are a reasonable amount. The only other items needed are a pencil and straight edge.

One drawback to all of the For Dummies books, is that none of them are printed in color, which could be helpful for a topic like trigonometry. Secondly, when you're required to sketch a graph, the usual blank space is provided, with no coordinate plane, or x-axis and y-axis. Finally, a drawback which applies to all of the For Dummies books, is that the Cheat Sheet is no longer printed inside the book. Instead, they tell you to get it from their website. Even after you click on the printer icon, which is supposed to give you a print-friendly version, nothing could be further from the truth. It doesn't print onto two letter size pages. If they were sincere, they would have provided it as a PDF file. The only conclusion which can be drawn is that this is being done deliberately, in order to eventually phase it out completely.

I purchased this workbook for my grandson to augment the material he is using in school. It has helped him immeasureably in understanding trigonometry and going a bit farther than the classroom curriculum goes. He has shown increased interest in the subject as a result.

bought the books for my daughter who is an elgebra teacher, who wants to

go on. She is enjoying the books very much and is on the sixth chapter of the trig. book and workbook. She is also working the pre-calculus book and workbook. So far as a mom I'm batting a hundred. Thank you.

This is one of the many books I have bought through Amazon and I am very satisfied with it. Anytime I order a book that is described as good or excelent condition they come in and look brand new. This was no exception, it came in looking like a new book...

If you go with the Trig for Dummies book I would strongly recommend getting the Workbook. While the Trig for Dummies book contains some problems to work through and of course you can work along with the examples, the Workbook contains more problems to solve and after all (at least for me) the only way to really learn Trig, or any other math subject, is to work problem after problem.

While more problems is always better this Workbook contains a decent number to get you started and while it it does not sync up with the Trig for Dummies book chapter for chapter it is easy enough to stay in sync.

The Trigonometry workbook for dummies is highly reccomended. The books from the dummies series are always easy to follow and helpful.