Precalculus

by Raymond A. Barnett, Michael R. Ziegler

The Barnett, Ziegler, Byleen, and Sobecki College Algebra series is designed to be user friendly and to maximize student comprehension by emphasizing computational skills, ideas, and problem solving as opposed to mathematical theory. Suitable for either one or two semester college algebra with trigonometry or precalculus courses, Precalculus introduces a unit circle approach to trigonometry and includes a chapter on limits to provide students with a solid foundation for calculus concepts. The large number of pedagogical devices employed in this text will guide a student through the course. Integrated throughout the text, students and instructors will find Explore-Discuss boxes which encourage students to think critically about mathematical concepts. In each section, the worked examples are followed by matched problems that reinforce the concept being taught. In addition, the text contains an abundance of exercises and applications that will convince students that math is useful. A MathZone site featuring algorithmic exercises, videos, and other resources accompanies the text.

Genres: School

944 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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