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Title: Intermediate Algebra and Analytic Geometry Made Simp by William R.,Ph.D. Gondin, Bernard Sohmer ISBN: 0-385-00437-0 Publisher: Main Street Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1959 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Not that simple...
Comment: When I was still in secondary school, I had near insatiable curiosity for a range of subjects not taught in the regular classes. One of the things I found extremely helpful were the bargain-priced books under the 'Made Simple' series (an early forerunner of the 'For Dummies' and 'Idiot's Guide' series). I learned Electronics, Physics, Chemistry, Philosophy, Business Law, Religions of the World, and a host of other topics (in a fairly elementary form) thanks to these books. Several of the texts I acquired in this series dealt with mathematics, one of my early intellectual loves. I got the book 'Statistics Made Simple' (don't believe the title!), 'Advanced Algebra and Calculus Made Simple', a Mathematics Encyclopedia, and this text, 'Intermediate Algebra and Analytic Geometry Made Simple'.

As a precocious child, I would often study in the summer prior to an academic year the topics scheduled for that year. I learned algebra, geometry, and trigonometry prior to taking the courses (making the courses that much easier), and this book was a large part of that training.

The book presupposes basic algebraic concepts to have been mastered (hence the title 'intermediate'). It assumes the reader knows variables, exponents, orders of operations, oprations with parentheses, operations with fractions, basic factoring, logarithms, and basic geometric formulae (area, volume, etc. of basic shapes). It also assumes a basic knowledge of trignometry, at least for the angles of zero to ninety degrees, which is a rather strange assumption for an algebra text, in my experience.

The algebra sections begins with linear equations in two unknowns, showing ways of solving systems of equations, then proceding to graphing equations and functions. Following this, the quadratic formula is introduced, as well as the graphic representations of parabolas. Quadratics are continued in some detail, leading further into the exploration of linear equations in three or more variables. The algebraic section concludes with a brief discussion of determinants (including Cramer's rule) and basic trigonometric functions, although both of these sections are the briefest of introductions.

The second half of the book is largely concerned with plane analytic geometry (analytic geometry in two dimensions). This explores straight lines (parallel, perpendicular, intersecting), parabolas, ellipses and circles, and hyperbolas. The last two chapters give a short introduction to solid analytic geometry (analytic geometry in three dimensions) and topology.

My one primary concern with the approach of this book is that it makes things in the analytic geometry section very dependent upon mastering the chapter on determinants in the algebra section (just an introduction, at that), which made the calculations very complicated. Even equations dealing with simple straight lines became massive calculations, and other books I have studied and taught with do a better job at this. However, it must be held that anyone who can master the processes shown in this text will be very good at mathematics.

There aren't lots of problems here, which can be a drawback for a mathematics text; if the reader is someone who needs lots of practice to reinforce the principles, additional problem sets might be necessary, either from an online source or another text. However, for general principles, this book does a good job covering basic description and application. For a mathematics text, it is also very affordable, and with its companion, 'Advanced Algebra and Calculus', gives almost all the mathematics principles and background anyone outside the hard sciences will ever need.