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Arithmetic Refresher: Improve your working knowledge of arithmetic
These 937 most-asked questions deal with tax problems, interest and discount, time-payment, etc. Features 809 problems and answers. "More than just a refresher . . . contains a great number of items that are not just reminders but entirely new ideas." — Bookmarks.
- GenresMathematicsReference
464 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1964
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October 26, 2019
When I was a child, arithmetic was taught to me in stages. For those who don’t know arithmetic is basic mathematics. It involves actual numbers rather than variables and focuses on the six main manipulations that can be done. So I had finished learning arithmetic proper around fifth grade; in the United States, fifth grade is what a child goes through from the ages of 10 to 11.
In any case, it has been over twenty years since I finished learning arithmetic in a formal setting. Clearly, a refresher course would aid me quite a bit. That is where Arithmetic Refresher comes in. Written by A. A. Klaf back in the 1950s, this book covers the six basic manipulations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, involution, and evolution. Now those last two were new terms to me, but I recognize the processes as using exponents.
Given that this book was written in the 1950s I assumed that it would have a number of fact-checks included that would aid calculation. The Slide Rule existed, but I have never used one. This is because in 1970 the first portable calculator was invented by Texas Instruments. Now I won’t get into the history of calculators, but that made it so that a lot of calculations and methods were lost. Anyway, back to what I was saying, the book does contain methods to fact-check calculations. A lot of the methods and ideas are quite interesting.
Although the book does contain a lot of information and problems, there are some areas where the book is lacking. I thought the book would contain the method to extract roots of any type, but it didn’t. On the other hand, the book does contain an examination of how to use continued fractions, which is something I did not know how to do. In any case, the book does show how to take square roots and cube roots, so I suppose that by combining the two methods you could get any root you want.
So this book is very well done. The other book by Klaf that I have, the Calculus Refresher, is similar in style. I enjoyed reading this one and finding out techniques and ideas that I had completely forgotten or never learned in the first place. Now it is possible that my schooling glossed over extracting square and cube roots because I never had to use it, or it could be that I learned it and promptly forgot it. This is the unfortunate reality of my memory. I have no reason to remember the process used to find square roots if I have a graphing calculator. On the other hand, as a person that enjoys learning things, it is interesting to find out how that sort of calculation was carried out before the calculator was invented.
In any case, it has been over twenty years since I finished learning arithmetic in a formal setting. Clearly, a refresher course would aid me quite a bit. That is where Arithmetic Refresher comes in. Written by A. A. Klaf back in the 1950s, this book covers the six basic manipulations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, involution, and evolution. Now those last two were new terms to me, but I recognize the processes as using exponents.
Given that this book was written in the 1950s I assumed that it would have a number of fact-checks included that would aid calculation. The Slide Rule existed, but I have never used one. This is because in 1970 the first portable calculator was invented by Texas Instruments. Now I won’t get into the history of calculators, but that made it so that a lot of calculations and methods were lost. Anyway, back to what I was saying, the book does contain methods to fact-check calculations. A lot of the methods and ideas are quite interesting.
Although the book does contain a lot of information and problems, there are some areas where the book is lacking. I thought the book would contain the method to extract roots of any type, but it didn’t. On the other hand, the book does contain an examination of how to use continued fractions, which is something I did not know how to do. In any case, the book does show how to take square roots and cube roots, so I suppose that by combining the two methods you could get any root you want.
So this book is very well done. The other book by Klaf that I have, the Calculus Refresher, is similar in style. I enjoyed reading this one and finding out techniques and ideas that I had completely forgotten or never learned in the first place. Now it is possible that my schooling glossed over extracting square and cube roots because I never had to use it, or it could be that I learned it and promptly forgot it. This is the unfortunate reality of my memory. I have no reason to remember the process used to find square roots if I have a graphing calculator. On the other hand, as a person that enjoys learning things, it is interesting to find out how that sort of calculation was carried out before the calculator was invented.
Displaying 1 of 1 review