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74 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good if you follow the #1 rule for math & sci success, February 16, 2004
This book consists of about 10 chapters.
(your precalc professor will probably only cover 8 of them).
Each chapter consists of about five or six topic sections.
Each section contains about 5 pages of reading and another 2 pages with review questions (approximately 90-120+ questions).I initially bought the fifth edition and weeks later upgraded to the 6th. I see only two differences between the old and new edition. The prerequisite chapter (covering review material from previous math class) is located in the front of the 5th edition, but in the back of the 6th edition. As for the five pages of reading material per section, I found them to be exactly the same (as far as I could tell). However the review questions in the back have a somewhat different order. In my opinion, about 90% of the review question (the examples that professors assign for homework) are present in both edition. However, in the sixth edition, some of the questions are in slightly mixed order. What this means to people buying the fifth edition, is that after each math class, you'll need to compare and match the review questions in your book with those of your fellow classmate's sixth edition text. Personally I don't believe that it's worth the effort to buy the old edition, since you can find the new sixth edition ... on Amazon.com, ..., etc.
Something I strongly recommend is purchasing the solutions guide. The titles are Study and Solutions Guide by Dianna Zook, but the title is misleading. It is ONLY a solutions guide, with answers for the odd-numbered questions broken down into four steps. The text book only supplies the odd-numbered answers without being broken down into steps. ... Just keep in mind that the sixth edition textbook and solutions guide has a publish date of 2003 or 2004. The fifth edition textbook and solutions guide has a 2000 publish date. 6th edtion TEXTBOOK ISBN 0618314342
6th edition SOLUTIONS guide ISBN 0618314377 5th edition TEXTBOOK ISBN 0618052852
5th edition SOLUTIONS guide ISBN 0618072713 Another suggestion, if you're purchasing this book used, is to buy the instructor's edition version (ISBN 0618314369). I say used because the publisher doesn't allow the sales of these books to non-educators, so you'll have to purchase them from amazon's used section, ..., etc. The only difference between the standard and instructor's edition is that the standard student edition has the odd-numbered answers and the instructor's has the odd and EVEN-numbered answers. Unfortunately these answers are only answers and not broken down solutions. You'll have to buy the solutions guide to have those and even then you'll only get the odd-numbered broken down solutions. As for the #1 rule of math and science courses: It's a well accepted rule of thumb that a student should study 2 hours per week for every 1 hour in class. For example if you're taking a four credit hour precalculus course, you should be studying an additional eight hours per week on top of the four in class. For those of you who work and don't have that kind of time, I would recommend that you study at least 1 hour per week per hour you're in class. That means you'd be in class four hours per week and would study another four outside class. Trust me, if you don't do this, you won't pass! Another note about this book, don't let the reading discourage you; a lot of this text reads as if speaking to a mathematician, not a lonely undergraduate student. Even if you don't understand all the theorems thrown at you (trust me you won't) continue reading and MOST IMPORTANT: do the review quesions. At least do the review questions that your teacher assigns, but if you can do them all or at least the odd-numbered ones, it would serve you well to do so.
If you haven't looked at a math book for over five years, might I recommend that you purchase a math video tape tutorial. It won't substitute for going to class or buying the text book, but it's a great introduction and was very helpful to me in calculus. On Amazon.com just type "Standard Deviants pre-calculus" (free shipping over $25 is good incentive to buy from here) or go directly to company's website if you want descriptions of what these VHS / DVD discs are about. Word of caution, buy "standard deviants" NOT "standard deviants school" which are much bigger volumes geared toward school learning environments. ... Good luck, Rob
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by Paul W. Zitzewitz
