Nature of Mathematics (11th Edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: Karl J. Smith
Publisher: Brooks Cole
Category: Book
List Price: $159.95
Buy New: $90.00
You Save: $69.95 (44%)
New (27) Used (25) from $70.00
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 510094
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 11
Pages: 1056
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.4
Dimensions (in): 10.3 x 8.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0495012726
Dewey Decimal Number: 511
EAN: 9780495012726
Publication Date: September 29, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Experience mathematics and hone your problem-solving skills with THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS and its accompanying online learning tools. The author introduces you to Polya's problem-solving techniques and then shows you how to use these techniques to solve unfamiliar problems. You'll also find coverage of historical topics, and exercise sets that feature problems applied to real world settings. Included with your purchase is access to the CengageNOW, an online tutorial that allows you to work with real math notation in real time, with unlimited practice problems, instant analysis and feedback, and streaming video to illustrate key concepts, as well as Personal Tutor with SMARTHINKING, a live, online mathematics tutoring service.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Outstanding overview of math for the math phobic July 20, 2006
Patty Page (Colorado)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
this book is the best I have ever seen - it encompasses all phases of basic math from the stone age to the present in a logical and comprehensive style.
Need Math this is the book to get! May 7, 2003
1 out of 11 found this review helpful
If you ever wanted to know about Math this is the book to get.
 A math text for the masses November 21, 2004
Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com))
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book satisfies the informal definition of the liberal arts "discipline." A little bit about a lot of things, but not too much of any one thing. Which is precisely the targeted audience.
The following topics are covered, and one should preface each with the word elementary: set theory, deductive reasoning, computers, number theory, algebra, the mathematics of finance, geometry, functions, probability, statistics, and mathematical modeling. All presentations are structured so that one can pick and choose without serious loss of continuity. Large numbers of problems are given at the end of each chapter, and the solutions to the odds are in the back of the book.
The text is written in a style that is described as humanistic. Features included in the text are as follows: birthdates of famous mathematicians at the start of the chapters, brief biographical sketches in the margins; cartoons; historical notes; and news clips. All of these add a note of relaxation that serves to improve the quality.
The only criticism is one that stems from personal bias. The chapter on computers does not have enough material to even begin to achieve computer literacy. With the incredible and expanding diversification of computer use, only a full course can begin to prepare people. It would have been better to leave this topic out.
This book is an excellent example of a math text for the masses. Any potential user can find what they want here.
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
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