Precalculus

by Raymond A. Barnett, Michael Ziegler, Karl Byleen

Mathematical reform is the driving force behind the organization and development of this new precalculus text. The use of technology,primarily graphing utilities,is assumed throughout the text. The development of each topic proceeds from the concrete to the abstract and takes full advantage of technology,wherever appropriate. The first major objective of this book is to encourage students to investigate mathematical ideas and processes graphically and numerically,as well as algebraically. Proceeding in this way,students gain a broader,deeper,and more useful understanding of a concept or process. Even though concept development and technology are emphasized,manipulative skills are not ignored,and plenty of opportunities to practice basic skills are present. A brief look at the table of contents will reveal the importance of the function concept as a unifying theme.

The second major objective of this book is the development of a library of elementary functions,including their important properties and uses. Having this library of elementary functions as a basic working tool in their mathematical tool boxes,students will be able to move into calculus with greater confidence and understanding. In addition,a concise review of basic algebraic concepts is included in Appendix A for easy reference,or systematic review.

The third major objective of this book is to give the student substantialexperience in solving and modeling real world problems. Enough applications are included to convince even the most skeptical student that mathematics is really useful. Most of the applications are simplified versions of actual real-world problems taken from professional journalsandprofessional books. No specialized experience is required to solve any of the applications.

Genres: School

1192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Hhhhhh · Rating 4 out of 5]

ilike it

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

For those times when you must prove to yourself that your first year of college doesn't define you as a person.

Well, I passed the precalc course that required this text, but the text itself was hardly any help. The chapters were organized poorly, the authors emphasized proofs over actual problem solving, and the unnecessarily flowery language did nothing to help.

It was the required reading for the course, so it did at least give me an idea of what Khan Academy videos to watch and what to look up in the free Stitz-Zeagler Precalculus text.

I'm convinced people hate math because the books are badly written and not so much because they are actually bad at it. That's true in my case. I mean, it's not intuitive, but I can get there with a clear explanation and some drilling.

Now, to prove I'm not too dumb for calculus.

[Nabeel Asmer]

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