Basic College Mathematics (5th Edition) (Tobey/Slater Wortext Series) (Paperback)

by John Tobey (Author), Jeffrey Slater (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This clear, accessible treatment of mathematics features a building-block approach toward problem solving, realistic and diverse applications, and chapter organizer to help users focus their study and become effective and confident problem solvers. The Putting Your Skills to Work and new chapter-end feature, Math in the Media, present readers with opportunities to utilize critical thinking skills, analyze and interpret data, and problem solve using applied situations encountered in daily life. Chapter 7, Geometry, has been extensively revised and re-organized to include a new section 7.1 on angles and new section 7.4 devoted to triangles. Increased coverage of estimating with fractions and decimals with new “To Think About” exercises in Sections 2.5, 2.8, and 3.3 and a new lesson in Section 3.7. Coverage of fractions in Chapter 2 has been expanded as follows: Section 2.6 now begins with a discussion of least common multiples so that the subsequent coverage of least common denominators is more complete; a new lesson on order of operations in Section 2.8 offers readers additional review of these rules and practice applying them to fractions; and a new mid-chapter test on fractions appears after Section 2.5. Percent applications are now covered in two sections (Sections 5.4 and 5.5) to allow for a more patient presentation of this important topic.

From the Publisher
This clear, accessible treatment of basic college mathematics features an enhanced problem-solving strand highlighted by A Mathematics Blueprint for Problem Solving that helps students determine where to begin the problem-solving process, as well as how to plan subsequent problem-solving steps. Also includes Step-by-Step Procedure, realistic Applications, and Cooperative Learning Activities in Putting Your Skills to Work. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (November 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131490575
• ISBN-13: 978-0131490574
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the basics, October 4, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Basic College Mathematics (4th Edition) (Paperback)

The text 'Basic College Mathematics' is used at the college where I tutor in mathematics as the foundational course for mathematics in all programmes. While many students test out of this level into algebraic topics, for those students whose mathematics is decades old, or was never perfect in the beginning, this book offers a fairly clear and systematic approach to mathematics topics.

The chapters cover the broad topics in this order: Whole Numbers, including the basic arithmetical functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), was well as basics of exponents and rounding; Fractions, including the basic arithmetical functions as well as beginning to deal with mixed numbers and order of operations; Decimals, including the basic arithmetical functions as well as continuing with order of operations and decimal/fraction conversions; Ratio and proportion ideas; Percentages theoretical and applied; Basic Measurements and conversions of units between British/American units and metric standards; Geometry at the most basic level of shapes and arithmetical formulas dealing with those shapes for area, perimeter, etc.; Statistics at a very elementary level, such as reading charts and graphs, histograms, and the three concepts of mean, median and mode; Signed and special numbers, including the negative numbers, as well as scientific notation; and finally a brief introduction to Algebra, which introduces the basic concepts of variables, like terms, and equations.

Each of the chapters deals with things in a mathematical as well as an 'English' way - explaining in words the concepts and operations being carried out in the numbers. Each section of each chapter covers only a few key concepts, with enough problems for solving that reinforce the principles thoroughly. Each section also as word problems (story problems) to test the real-world applicability of the numerical/mathematical concepts being presented, so when students ask (as they always do and shall), 'When am I ever going to use this?' there are examples drawn from typical situations.

Tobey and Slater have also worked to make various connections with geometry, graphs and charts, tables, as well as internet resources to provide the most up-to-date and useful text. There are specific problems along the way that assume the use of calculators (as most of real-life mathematics now involves calculators).

The book's design is interesting from a graphic-design standpoint, but from the standpoint of clarity to the students, the pages are a bit `busy'. While I appreciate the need to reduce the number of pages in an effort to keep the costs down (text-book prices are typically higher than popular-book prices, and this text is no exception), more white space on the pages would probably help the accessibility and make it a little less intimidating.

This book serves as a good foundation for students to proceed at our college forward into Beginning Algebra (another book by Tobey and Slater on this topic is used for the next-level course), and then further into Intermediate Algebra and beyond.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs Up For This Book!, November 22, 2000

By	Valerie Boone-Ogunleye (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic College Mathematics (Paperback)

This book offers great examples which clearly illustrate how to work out a problem from the beginning to the end. I was very impressed with this book and wished that I had this book when I was in high school. I found it to be a wonderful book with good examples. I was especially impressed with the chapter organizer at the end of each chapter. I routinely would copy these to and use these to study before a test. I have maintained an A average in that class the entire time. For anyone having trouble with basic math.... get this book! You will be glad you did.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basic Mathematics, August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Basic College Mathematics (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

Basic Mathematics is an informative textbook teaching the basics of mathematics. It has good examples and easy to understand explantations of fomulas. I would recommend this text as a refresher before jumping into a more complex subject.