Elementry Algebra for School

by Henry Sinclair Hall, Samuel Ratcliffe Knight

Competition Book

Genres: Mathematics

566 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

1848-1934

Reviews

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maths really is all about practice, practice, and more practice. Unlike modern UK mathematical secondary school text books, Hall & Knight give that really deep intensive practice which is the precursor to that light bulb of mathematical literacy lighting up. Just because we benefit from incredible electronic computing power today, it doesn’t follow that we shouldn’t learn about logarithms (and slide-rules). Algebra is fun – that is once the brain is trained to it! It’s also a very good mental exercise habit throughout life; the saying “Use It Or Lose It” doesn’t apply solely to completing crosswords! This book really is ideal for both getting into and easing back into good algebraic habits.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book, but the coverage of some topics is unsatisfactory and feels more like excerpts from this book’s sequel, Higher Algebra, rather than fully developed chapters in their own right. Probably not H.S. Hall’s fault, though, as I was reading one of the later editions, with a coauthor claiming improvements and additions. It was still way better than modern textbooks.