Algebra | 
 enlarge | Authors: I.m. Gelfand, Alexander Shen
Publisher: Birkhaeuser Boston
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $24.37
You Save: $5.58 (19%)
New (16) Used (7) from $23.69
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 53638
Media: Paperback
Pages: 150
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.4
ISBN: 0817636773
Dewey Decimal Number: 512
EAN: 9780817636777
Publication Date: July 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The need for improved mathematics education at the high school and college levels has never been more apparent than in the 1990's. As early as the 1960's, I.M. Gelfand and his colleagues in the USSR thought hard about this same question and developed a style for presenting basic mathematics in a clear and simple form that engaged the curiosity and intellectual interest of thousands of high school and college students. These same ideas, this development, are available in the following books to any student who is willing to read, to be stimulated, and to learn. "Algebra" is an elementary algebra text from one of the leading mathematicians of the world -- a major contribution to the teaching of the very first high school level course in a centuries old topic -- refreshed by the author's inimitable pedagogical style and deep understanding of mathematics and how it is taught and learned. This text has been adopted at: Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA * University of Illinois in Chicago, Chicago, IL * University of Chicago, Chicago, IL * California State University, Hayward, CA * Georgia Southwestern College, Americus, GA * Carey College, Hattiesburg, MS
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| Customer Reviews:
Splendid and illuminating algebra text. August 22, 2004
N. F. Taussig (Bronx, NY)
37 out of 38 found this review helpful
This text, which is intended to supplement a high school algebra course, is a concise and remarkably clear treatment of algebra that delves into topics not covered in the standard high school curriculum. The numerous exercises are well-chosen and often quite challenging.
The text begins with the laws of arithmetic and algebra. The authors then cover polynomials, the binomial expansion, rational expressions, arithmetic and geometric progressions, sums of terms in arithmetic and geometric progressions, polynomial equations and inequalities, roots and rational exponents, and inequalities relating the arithmetic, geometric, harmonic, and quadratic (root-mean-square) means. The book closes with an elegant proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.
Topics are chosen with higher mathematics in mind. In addition to gaining facility with algebraic manipulation, the reader will also gain insights that will help her or him in more advanced courses.
The exercises, which are numerous, often involve searching for patterns that will enable the reader to tackle the problem at hand. Many of the exercises are quite challenging because they require some ingenuity. Some of the exercises are followed by complete solutions. These are instructive to read because the authors present alternate solutions that offer additional insights into the problem.
I also highly recommend the other texts in the Gelfand School Outreach Program. They include The Method of Coordinates, Functions and Graphs (Dover Books on Mathematics), and Trigonometry. Also, to gain additional insights into the inequalities at the end of this text, the reader may wish to consult an Introduction to Inequalities (New Mathematical Library) by Edwin Beckenbach and Richard Bellman.
Great little book April 1, 2000
21 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is a great book for people who are trying to learn or re-learn algebra. Explanations are very clear and there are many examples to work through.
good introductory text on algebra March 9, 2008
Takyiu Liu (Cupertino, CA USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I use this text to teach my 9-year old son algebra. The book is good, but beware that the scope is quite limited. I consider it a good text for elementary algebra. Roughly it corresponds to 7th - 9th level in countries like Hong Kong/Japan/Singapore.
Makes you a master of high school algebra and... September 11, 2003
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
This book inspires even those with minimal interest in mathematics. If you are passionate about math, this is a must for you. The book is simply a refresher for high school algebra. It contains numerous gems that you could hardly find in a standard algebra text. If you are a teacher, you would have learned much to improve your teaching style and knows how to make your math classes more interesting...overall, a key source to keep on your bookshelf
School level text November 2, 2007
Francesco Erriques (Milano, Italy)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
An excellent source of exercises and examples to work out Algebra, at a school level. Gives just what school lessons usually lack of. Enjoyable.
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