Algebra and Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry, Classic Edition

I have no doubt that if people work through this book, they will be very knowledgable and skilled in the areas covered. It is, however, a slow, tedious, sometimes frustrating process. The authors are clearly proficient at math, but their style is pretty dry. It's a "just the facts, ma'am" approach to instruction. It would be nice to have perspective, interpretation, and helpful guidance in addition to straight math. It's kind of like reading a technical manual. I prefer a more engaging presentation.


For mathematicians, by mathmematicians   April 24, 2004
Mephistophilis (United States)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Frankly, I found this text way too brief in its coverage of topics prior to being bombarded with questions. There isn't much good to say about this book other than providing lots of problems to work. Save yourself the money and buy a "10000 problem" text instead.


A math book that leaves you stranded   September 18, 2000
11 out of 15 found this review helpful

This book is required by my college and dealing with it was the most unpleasant period of my life. Prior to using this book I used the Saxon Math Program in which each lesson contains enough information to learn the material without the help of an instructor. There is no way that you can teach yourself from this book if you don't all ready know the material, and many math professors are lazy and tell you to get the knowledge out of the book. The lesson material is too brief and the explanations are almost cryptic. The solutions manual that comes with it is supposed to have the answers to all the odd problems, but the author decided to leave out a couple of these problems in which the answer would take up a little more paper than the others, these are often the ones you need the solutions to, the book just leaves you stranded. If you have to use this book, I pity you, you better hope that you have a darn good math professor. If you don't have to use it, steer clear of it.


A really bad math book   April 6, 2005
Carlos Gardel
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Precalculus is hard enough without having to use a book like this. I thought that the prose was unreadable, the graphics confusing, and many of the exercises supercomplicated (our professor thought so too). In my opinion *Algebra and Trignometry* is a triumph of marketing over pedagogical competence. My advice? Not only should you not buy this book; you should avoid a class in which it is assigned.