Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Mathematical recreations; Puzzles; Games / Puzzles; Mathematics / Recreations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A great free puzzle book
If I were a math teacher or had kids, this book would be worth good money despite its age. There's a collection of a few hundred math problems, involving money, time, families and other situations. They're good brain teasers.

The book doesn't have the greatest formatting for the Kindle. There are a few errors and it lacks a table of contents and proper markup, but it still works well. The only "downside" I have is that some of the math puzzles are a bit difficult when older British money was used, when the problem is compounded by the fact that you had to use shillings and pence were used, and you mention that you have a half crown and threepence in order to buy something. It's a little confusing but there's a table of conversions in the beginning.

Some Kindle deficiencies
I have this paper book, but wanted a copy for my Kindle DX. There are a few versions for the Kindle, but I shelled out a few bucks for the one that said it was optimized for larger readers.

Although it reads well, and there are illustrations, the Table of Contents doesn't work. I mean, it is there (you can see it), but it is non-functional. A bit diappointing, since I'll have to tag the locations for the chapters myself.

I think Amazon should have a bullet list when selling electronic books that tell you things like this.

I'll keep the book anyway, but there was no reason that whoever threw this up there didn't take the time to do it right.

AMUSEMENTS INMATHEMATICS
I found this book simply sensational, once it has hundreds of interesting puzzles on math and logic. One learns a lot by reading it.

Entertaining and Instructive Collection of Mathematical Puzzles A - Must Have for Puzzle Lovers

With 430 puzzles, problems, paradoxes, and brain teasers, this book is a mammoth puzzle collection, compared with most math teasers and puzzles book available. But what is important is not the quantity, but the quality and charm of the problems presented. Each problem is presented with a full length solutions that makes the book absolutely an instructive experience for the reader. In some cases the author even discussed on how others had attacked and failed the problems.

Additionally the book is fully illustrated with clever diagrams and sketches, which make the reading even more pleasant for everyone. You, your freinds and family will spend many hours trying the vast array of puzzles prented in this book.

One of the classics of Puzzledom
Dudeney was one of the two fathers of puzzles today.Amusements in Mathematics has many of Dudeney's best puzzles.An excellent book. ... Read more

Product Description

“It is fun to figure out the puzzle of how children go about making sense of mathematics and then how to help teachers help kids.”  John A. Van de Walle, Late of Virginia Commonwealth University

This is the philosophy behind Elementary and Middle School Mathematics:  Teaching Developmentally.  John A. Van de Walle wrote this book to help students understand mathematics and become confident in their ability to teach the subject to children in kindergarten through eighth grade.  Although he could not have foreseen the changes in mathematics teaching over the last three decades, he was at the forefront of the movement towards a constructivist view of teaching, or teaching developmentally.  Constructivism says that children construct their own knowledge.  They are not blank slates waiting to absorb whatever the teacher tells them.  Teachers must understand both mathematics itself and how students learn mathematics in order to teach it effectively. 

Learning through problem solving is another major theme of this book.  Students solve problems not just to apply mathematics, but also to learn new mathematics.  Effective problems will take into account where students are, the problematic or engaging aspect of the problem must be due to the mathematics that the students are to learn and not be diluted by non-mathematical activities such as cutting or pasting, and the problem must require justifications and explanations for answers and methods.  Learning then becomes an outcome of the problem solving process. 

The book also addresses in more detail than any other book on the market the effect that the trends of standards-based education, increased pressure to test, and increased teacher accountability have had on teaching mathematics.  He addresses the 2000 NCTM Standards in depth, in Chapter 1 on Teaching Mathematics in the Era of the NCTM Standards, through the NCTM icon that appears in the margins throughout the text, and in two appendices in the back of the book.  Chapter 5 on Building Assessment into Instruction has also been heavily revised to focus on increased testing pressure, creating more explicit links between objectives and assessment, and including assessments for students with special needs. Additionally, samples of Pearson's reformed-based curricula, Connnected Math Project  (5-8) as well as Investigations (K-4),  are featured in the text and on the myeducationlab site.

Elementary and Middle School Mathematics:  Teaching Developmentally is a book for doing math today–for both students who want to become teachers, and the students they will eventually teach. 

New To This Edition:

NEW!  Revises Chapter 5 on assessment--Discusses increased testing pressure and accountability, adds more information on equitable assessments, creates more explicit links between objectives and assessment, and includes assessments for students with special needs.

NEW!  Updates the Literature Connections feature to remove all out of print children’s literature and include more non-fiction, poetry, and other types of readings.

NEW!  Weaves the Focal Points throughout the chapters as well as links them with the Big Ideas feature–Focal Points have also been added to the Appendix. 

NEW!  Includes expanded coverage of working with diverse learners. 

NEW!  Gives greater emphasis on dealing with math anxiety.

Customer Reviews (39)

Great Resource
This book provides an excellent insight, strategies and activities that can be utilize intermediately in the classroom

wonderful resource for elementary teachers
This book has revolutionized my concept of teaching math.Usually I keep my books in perfect shape so I can sell them back, but I'm highlighting and bookmarking all through this text.I plan to keep it forever!

Great book for Teachers
There are some great tips and ideas for teaching math.It's a slow read, but good.

Want kids to 'understand' mathematics? This resource is the best!
John Van de Walle was a leader in teaching mathematics for understanding.I have been teaching secondary Mathematics since 1982 and taught middle school students for five years prior to that. I have used his materials since the second edition of this book was published in the mid-1980s and I am only sorry that I did not know about them sooner.John's ideas are usable with kids at any level who struggle and the readings provide insight into what educators should look for in diagnosing the misunderstandings that lead to difficulties with mathematical concepts.If we emphasized concepts as well as process we would have vastly more students progressing through upper levels mathematics than is currently the case.If you want to make a difference in student math achievement, check the book out.

Elementary and middle school math
This product arrived in a timely fashion and It was in better condition than described! Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (32)

Human treasure
Seldom one could identify this kind of object in human history. This book is treasure of human beings. It collects first-rate insights from first-rate mathematicians of human world, in the way of first-rate (I would say the editor has devised such a wonderful 'function' to transform the input to such output).

Anyone seriously interested in mathematics and any college student shall own this book. It is the best introduction to mathematics than any other book because it contains many lens rather than one. One could be exposed to different perspectives in the book, rather than an algebraist's, geometer's, analyst's, or a number theorist's view. T. Apostol's Calculus is great. But it's not the best math introduction because it's through a great analysis teacher's len and it purely focuses on rigorous analysis way of seeing and doing math. So for others, you need this book.

And this book is better than encyclopedia because it expresses the authors' personal insights, which are all first-rate. We love insights/wisdom more than cold facts. Facts of mathematical objects could be found anywhere. But how do some first-class mathematicians "see" such objects? How do they explain the object? This may be the gem they learned/reflected during their past years (and successful ones). Now some of the gem is here in the book.

An apprentice needs a general master for guidance on the overall picture of each specific field that the apprentice could further study from masters of each specialty. This book is the general master to math beginners. It opens a door to the math world. What a wonderful world.

Good content, poor format
This is a review of the Kindle version of the book.I own the physical version as well, and heartily agree with reviews of the overall excellent content, clear explications and wonderful cross-references in the original volume.

I do not give the Kindle edition five stars for two reasons:The frequent and highly relevant cross-references, which are ripe for an electronic hypertext cross-linking capability, are not at all exploited on the Kindle.This is, I am certain, far more the fault of the publisher than the Kindle device itself.One of the things I was looking forward to with the ebook version was being able to skip around dynamically, guided by the cross-linked articles.Now, that is very difficult.The only way to accomplish it is via manual searches.

Also, many of the more esoteric symbols, such as matricies or entities with super/sub-scripts seem to be "washed out".This isn't a terrible issue, as they are still legible.

Overall, the lack of hyperlinked cross-references is the most significant shortcoming.

For such an expensive ebook, one would have expected more attention to detail.

For the Expert Only
Very briefly: This volume is about as complete a compendium of things mathematical as one will currently see. But it is for the expert, the man or woman who is versed in (pure!) mathematics. It is completely over the head and beyond persons like me who have some knowledge of applied math or accounting or business math. I therefor advise anyone who is like me to save a bunch of cash and, if interested in math, buy instead some popular exposition written for the likes of us.

Kindle version technically poor
This is a wonderful book.I have the Kindle version, but disappointingly found that the
purely mathematical portions, i.e., equations, etc. has not been incorporated into the text.
Equations, etc. appear to be low resolution images that are barely readable and need to be
"double tapped" and then appear independent of the text and are nearly pix elated.
This is obviously an example of a great book that was converted to the e-book version
in haste and has proven an obstacle to reading it in this format.
Too bad because this practice will set back adoption of the e-book revolution.
My advice:Do not buy it in the Kindle format.

An authoritative reference with encyclopedic scope
This enormous book covers the world of mathematics authoritatively and deeply: Different sections are written by experts in the specific area. Nonetheless, each section is reasonably comprehensible.

It would be unreasonable to try to read through the entire book end-to-end, although you could do that if you have nothing else to do for a year. However, if you like reading and thinking about mathematical ideas, this book will be a great place to get up-to-speed on any topic you may stumble across. Each section also has suggestions for further reading, so you can keep going beyond what has been included in the book.

If you enjoy mathematics beyond the recreational level, this book deserves a place in your personal library. ... Read more

Product Description
Praise for William Dunhams Journey Through Genius The Great Theorems of Mathematics "Dunham deftly guides the reader through the verbal and logical intricacies of major mathematical questions and proofs, conveying a splendid sense of how the greatest mathematicians from ancient to modern times presented their arguments." —Ivars Peterson Author, The Mathematical Tourist Mathematics and Physics Editor, Science News

"It is mathematics presented as a series of works of art; a fascinating lingering over individual examples of ingenuity and insight. It is mathematics by lightning flash." —Isaac Asimov

"It is a captivating collection of essays of major mathematical achievements brought to life by the personal and historical anecdotes which the author has skillfully woven into the text. This is a book which should find its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in science and the scientists who create it." —R. L. Graham, AT&T Bell Laboratories

"Come on a time-machine tour through 2,300 years in which Dunham drops in on some of the greatest mathematicians in history. Almost as if we chat over tea and crumpets, we get to know them and their ideas—ideas that ring with eternity and that offer glimpses into the often veiled beauty of mathematics and logic. And all the while we marvel, hoping that the tour will not stop." —Jearl Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University Author of The Flying Circus of PhysicsAmazon.com Review
In Journey through Genius, author William Dunhamstrikes an extraordinary balance between the historical andtechnical. He devotes each chapter to a principal result ofmathematics, such as the solution of the cubic series and thedivergence of the harmonic series. Not only does this book tell thestories of the people behind the math, but it also includes discussions andrigorous proofs of the relevant mathematical results. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (82)

Sparked a life-long interest.
I read this book freshman year of college and since then I've been in love with the subject of mathematics. It opened up a new world for me and I will be forever grateful to William Dunham for sparking this interest and curiosity of mathematics.

It's a great book and easy to understand.

A pleasure to read
This is the first review that I've ever written, but after reading this book, I could only think that this should be a must read for all high school students (especially those who think math boring).This book would add much needed humanity and intrigue into what many might consider dry math classes.Furthermore, it is simply a joy to read.

As for me, it makes me envy the innate genius given to such a precious few...

A joy (and helpful, too)

I'll keep this review brief so readers may go on to the wonderful reviews already posted.

Dunham's book is a joy to read, and provides much background that helps me as a teacher. It has several literary gems, such as the author's observation that Heron's formula for calculating the area of a triangle from the lengths of its three sides is "a very peculiar result which at first glance looks like nothing so much as a misprint. [It] has no intuitive appeal whatever." (p. 119)

Unfortunately, Journey through Genius ends on a bit of a sour note, which I hope will be remedied in a later printing. Having told us that Cantor's continuum hypothesis can neither be established nor disproved within set theory, Dunham concludes that its adoption or rejection is a matter of the individual mathematician's tastes. In other words, we can have different "versions" of set theory. Mathematicians on the whole do not seem to agree: since much of modern mathematics is founded upon set theory, they seem to believe we can't afford to have different versions of it. (See users DOT forthnet DOT gr SLASH ath SLASH kimon SLASH Continuum DOT htm .)

A must read
A classic. Written in a clear concise fashion. Does a good job of the most important theorems in mathematics. and explains them in a way that even a layman can understand. This book is an ideal to gift to a newbie if you want to kindle his/her interest in mathematics. An ideal book for bedtime reading. It took me within 2 weeks to complete this book doing a bedtime reading.

Humbling
I had to read this for a course in Real Analysis, and I find myself rereading chapters or the whole book every year.A great read for a math minded person.Favorite chapter is definitely on Cantor. ... Read more

Product Description
The resource math teachers have been waiting for is finally here!

Volume Three of the Van de Walle Professional Mathematics Series provides practical guidance along with proven strategies for practicing teachers of grades 5 through 8. In addition to many of the popular topics and features from John Van de Walle's market-leading textbook, Elementary and Middle School Mathematics, this volume offers brand-new material specifically written for the middle grades. The expanded grade-specific coverage and unique page design allow readers to quickly and easily locate information to implement in the classroom. Nearly 200 grade-appropriate activities are included. The student-centered, problem-based approach will help students develop real understanding and confidence in mathematics, making this series indispensable for teachers!

Collect all three volumes in the Van de Walle Professional Mathematics Series! Each volume provides in-depth coverage at specific grade levels.

• Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Volume One, Grades K-3, ISBN: 0-205-40843-5
• Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Volume Two, Grades 3-5, ISBN: 0-205-40844-3
• Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Volume Three, Grades 5-8, ISBN: 0-205-41797-3

Customer Reviews (12)

Really teaching maths for understanding
I would highly recommend this book to all teachers. The activities are really practical and the differentiation ideas have worked really with my class including the gifted students. So far I have been accessing the ideas around developing fraction concepts (in my opinion usually rushed to get to calculating with fractions). The ideas are not new but really well structured and the thinking behind them thoughtfully explained. I have been teaching for many years and have a passion for math education but I have to say I don't think I've ever taught fractions as well before.

Teaching 3rd grade math
Good book with some innovative ideas on how to give students a hands on approach to teaching math. I hate doing drills and needed some ideas on how to approach math in a way the students could work with their peers and figure out different methods of getting to the same conclusion. Students need several strategies to get to where they need to go. They don't all take the same path.

a good resource for math teachers
Unlike many of the textbooks that I had to purchase for teachers college, this is one that I will actually keep and use in the classroom.

needed this book quickly
this book was important for my class.there was no time to second guess my purchase.the book was brand new at used price.used next day shipping.it was here the next day. thanks Amazon

For Everyday Use
I use this to plan my lesson for junior high students.Yes, I sometimes need to tweak them, but they are excellent.The focus on the objective.Make sure that the objectives match your purpose.Do not do activities that do not increase the retention of the objective. ... Read more

Product Description
 

Customer Reviews (1)

Easy-to-Implement Ways to Increase Stuent Achievement
If you wish to improve the quality of your mathematics instruction without having to invest dozens of hours, Accessible Mathematics by Steven Leinwand is for you.Mr. Leinwand's 10 instructional shifts represent a common sense approach to strengthening your pedagogy and making math class more productive immediately.The book is a quick read and would be great for your next book study.I recommend this book to all busy teachers who are looking for small instructional changes that work right away to increase students' achievement. ... Read more

Product Description
A compendium of more than 240 classroom-tested lessons, this essential resource helps teachers build student understanding and skills and understand how children best learn math. In this third edition, Marilyn Burns has completely revised the first section to reflect what she has learned over the years from her classroom experience with students and her professional development experience with teachers. This section has also been expanded to address these important topics: teaching math vocabulary, incorporating writing into math instruction, linking assessment and instruction, and using children's literature to teach key math concepts. In an entirely new section, Marilyn addresses a wide range of questions she has received over the years from elementary and middle school teachers regarding classroom management and instructional issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Well Worth the Money
My daughter is homeschooled . I did o.k. in school--But math for me got alot harder after 5th grade. I really needed a book that would give me info. on not only WHAT to teach but, HOW to teach.This book is going to be such a big help for me.My daughter was in the talented & gifted program at her old school.I want to make sure that she keeps on getting the straight A's that she was getting. This book takes some of the pressure off of me by giving me ideas, activities, and (really important to me) ways to assess my daughter's understanding of new concepts. Because if she doesn't understand it, she will in no way excel. Anyone that homeschools, that didn't get straight A's in math will benefit from this book. I paid $38 for this book and after reading it I would have paidalot more!Marilyn Burns is great!

Not the brand new book I thought I purchased
When I bought this book, it was under "Brand New WITH My Math Lab".It never said that it had been used.When I got the book, the access code had been used.Now I have to buy the $40 access code.

TOOK FOREVER TO RECEIVE!
When my book finally arrived, it was in perfect condition and was exactly like I wanted, however, it took WEEKS to receive this book. I had purchased several items from other sellers days after purchasing this book and they all arrived within several days of purchasing. This book took so long to deliver that I thought it wasn't coming at all. I would not order from this seller again if I wanted/needed my purchase within a timely manner!

Wow, amazing elementary math resource
This book provides great insight about how children learn math. There are wonderful ideas for hands-on lessons on many different concepts. Highly recommended!

On time, but charged EXTRA for shipping
The book arrived on time but I had to pay about 8$ more for shipping because the sender did not put postage on the package. ... Read more

Product Description
A gently guided, profusely illustrated Grand Tour of the world of mathematics.This extraordinary work takes the reader on a long and fascinating journey--from the dual invention of numbers and language, through the major realms of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, to the final destination of differential equations, with excursions into mathematical logic, set theory, topology, fractals, probability, and assorted other mathematical byways. The book is unique among popular books on mathematics in combining an engaging, easy-to-read history of the subject with a comprehensive mathematical survey text. Intended, in the author's words, "for the benefit of those who never studied the subject, those who think they have forgotten what they once learned, or those with a sincere desire for more knowledge," it links mathematics to the humanities, linguistics, the natural sciences, and technology.

Contains more than 1000 original technical illustrations, a multitude of reproductions from mathematical classics and other relevant works, and a generous sprinkling of humorous asides, ranging from limericks and tall stories to cartoons and decorative drawings. Over 1000 technical illustrations and cartoons and drawings.Amazon.com Review
What does mathematics mean? Is it numbers orarithmetic, proofs or equations? Jan Gullberg starts his massivehistorical overview with some insight into why human beings find itnecessary to "reckon," or count, and what math means to us. From thereto the last chapter, on differential equations, is a very long, butsurprisingly engrossing journey. Mathematics covers howsymbolic logic fits into cultures around the world, and givesfascinating biographical tidbits on mathematicians from Archimedes toWiles. It's a big book, copiously illustrated with goofy littleline drawings and cartoon reprints. But the real appeal (at least formath buffs) lies in the scads of problems--withsolutions--illustrating the concepts. It really invites readers to sitdown with a cup of tea, pencil and paper, and (ahem) a calculator andstart solving. Remember the first time you "got it" in math class?With Mathematics you can recapture that bliss, and maybe learnsomething new, too. Everyone from schoolkids to professors (and maybeeven die-hard mathphobes) can find something useful, informative, orentertaining here.--Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (72)

Wonnderful book!
I'm from Belgium. I was on holiday, walking in Harvard campus when my attention was kept by this wonderful book...2 minutes were enough to convince myself to buy it and it was definitly a good choice!

I'm an engineer and even if the content is more like "basic" maths for everyone intersted on the topic, I must admit it is a very useful and broad reference, introducing deeply all important in everyday's life math topics!

Nevertheless, I found one little typo and would like some readers to confirm this fact : in the § on the fundamental theorem of calculus, one assumption is that the area below the graph from a to x is called A(x), but on the graph, it is called Delta A(x). Can anyone confirm that it is a small mistake or that it has been corrected? Such a book deserves to be totally free of typos, especially for such an important part of the book: the fundamental theorem. Actually, it is a bit a pitty that such a theorem is not fully demonstrated, but that onlydA(x)/x = f(x) is proved.

A love letter to mathematics
Gullberg's formal training was in medicine; he compiled this scrapbook / love letter as an amateur mathematician with the conviction that mathematics should be enjoyed, like art or music. And what a scrapbook! Weighing in at over a thousand pages, there is nary a subject not touched upon. But this is not a textbook, not a handbook, not a serious book (and we mean that in a good way). Flip to any page and find wonders tucked in among familiar formulas and diagrams: a comparison of counting numbers in the world's major languages, instructions for using an abacus, a menagerie of magic squares, a survey of methods used to compute pi, a summary of figurate numbers. In addition, each chapter begins with a whirlwind history of the topic at hand, introducing names you probably recognize (and some you do not) and putting their contributions into a larger historical perspective. Want to trace the development of calculus pre-Newton or the use of matrices all the way back to ancient China? You'll find it here. An amazing collection of knowledge worth twice the price.

Liz Salander's book from The Girl Who Played with Fire
For all those who are thrilled with the Stieg Larsson series, after some research, it appears the consensus is that this is the book (a "brick of 1000 pages") that Lisbeth read in the Carribean beach bar.Title was changed for the book to "Dimensions in Mathematics",a much more engaging title, but the author is a Swede like Larsson and the publication date is contemporary and the description of subject matter fits exactly. Having loved the Larsson series and as a mathematics fan, I set out to find the book and it has been the most rewarding experience.I never understood until now the significance of mathematics in all of cultural, intellectual and, yes, philosophical development from 1200 BC and on.It is most rewarding if one is familiar with the mathematical concepts, but that is by no means necessary as the writing does not demand that you be able to solve the problems of the ages to appreciate the dedication, intelligencs and ingenuity of those who did.Illsutrations and cartoons abound.I have found a few typos or logical errors, but not enough to matter.This is totally readable and is truly not a book on mathematics only but on the development of civislation as we know it.

A HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS TO 1997
A SUPERB SUMMARY OF THE SUBJECT TO 1997 - A CLASSIC THAT WILL NEVER GO OUT OF DATE IN THAT REGARD.

A MUST FOR THE LIBRARY OF A MATHEMATICAL STUDENT (WHETHER YOUNG OR OLD).

cool book
I haven't had much time yet to explore this book, but I browsed it enough to know that I will enjoy reading it and that it is well worth the price. ... Read more

Product Description

The Language of Mathematics is Devlin's second iteration of theapproach he used in Mathematics: The Science ofPatterns. It covers all the same ground (and uses many of thesame words) as the latter, but with fewer glossy pictures, sidebars,and references. Devlin has also added chapters on statistics and onmathematical patterns in nature. --Mary Ellen Curtin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

To see the world in a grain of sand.
Devlin's language of mathematics is an outstanding book "about" mathematics. It's best suited to lay audiences without any background in mathematics, I particularly disagree with other reviews which claimed that this work require any higher understanding of mathematics. In fact, if you are one of the people (including myself) who have not done any math or took a class or read a book relating to math since secondary school, this is a good place for you to start. I'm a lawyer who have spent much of a lifetime as a math-loathing individual. My mathematics education ceased 13 years ago when I was 17. But thanks to this book, with its blend of engaging narative history as well as concise-but-sharp explanations on the concepts of mathematics, I am now in love with mathematics for the first time in my life.

This book needs not be read from cover to cover. Every discussion can stand on their own, and you are free to explore the content as your curiosity may lead. The first two chapters about what mathematical endeavor has been to manknid is brief but effective. I especially like the chapter on the mathematical induction; the subject was presented very clear yet powerful. The power of that simple exposition awakened something in me. I can only regret that I wasn't exposed to something like this when I was in school. It would have changed my life.

However, if you want a proper mathematics education. This book is not up to that task. It is written only to educate lay people or just to whet an appetite for more serious treatment of math. In short, this is a book "about" mathematics, not a mathematics book. Therefore if you have a serious goal in reeducating yourself about math, I recommend "What is mathematics?" by Courant (it has got to be one of the best math books written in the past 60 years). Also books written by Prof John Stillwell definitely worth checking out. Stillwell wrote many books on fundamental concepts of mathematics without requiring deeper background than highschool mathematics.

An excellent way to begin the study of the universal language of the universe
It has long been argued that to understand the universe, it is first necessary to understand the language used to describe it, namely mathematics. Devlin opens with that position and then proceeds to give a historical account of many areas of mathematics and how they are used to describe the actions of the physical world. Devlin does an excellent job in explaining the mathematics at a level of basic understanding, although to his credit he does not hesitate to include formulas and equations when they are necessary.
Some of the topics covered are:

*) Formal grammars
*) Number theory
*) Conic sections
*) Logical reasoning
*) The fundamental geometries
*) Basic topology
*) Fundamental probability

In each section, Devlin's goal is to explain the material well enough so that the reader can understand and appreciate the value that it brings to the mathematical world. He is very successful in this endeavor, developing the topic in sufficient yet with no unnecessary detail so that the bright and dedicated reader will be able to appreciate the overall beauty and utility of mathematics.

A Beautiful Read
A beautiful read. And I mean beautiful. As I read I could envision see the beauty in the patterns being described. It is both history and description. I would definitely recommend this book.

Refreshing my love of math
I'm in my early 30's, got an undergraduate math degree, and have been experiencing a renewal of my interest in math.I found this book at the perfect time.

The negative reviews on this book are true.I can't imagine more than small parts of chapters being interesting to someone who hasn't already been exposed to university level maths.The symmetry and topology chapters were very entertaining, but I can imagine them being a little opaque for someone without prior study of these topics (or who hadn't at least tried to tile their bathroom).

If you're in my position, having studied math, forgot about it for a couple of years, and are now renewing your interest in it, I highly recommend this book.If you've never studied, but are interested in learning about math, find an easier introduction and save this for your 3rd or fourth book, when you're ready to see how math helps us understand abstract ideas even before they have real world application.

What is Math?
If you ever really wondered whats behind all of the numbers this is thebook that you want. Very easy to read and explains everything you wanted to know about Math. ... Read more

Product Description
"A lucid representation of the fundamental concepts and methods of the whole field of mathematics. It is an easily understandable introduction for the layman and helps to give the mathematical student a general view of the basic principles and methods."--Albert Einstein (on the first edition)

For more than two thousand years a familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today, unfortunately, the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. The teaching and learning of mathematics has degenerated into the realm of rote memorization, the outcome of which leads to satisfactory formal ability but not to real understanding or greater intellectual independence. This new edition of Richard Courant's and Herbert Robbins's classic work seeks to address this problem. Its goal is to put the meaning back into mathematics.

Written for beginners and scholars, for students and teachers, for philosophers and engineers, What is Mathematics?, Second Edition is a sparkling collection of mathematical gems that offers an entertaining and accessible portrait of the mathematical world. Covering everything from natural numbers and the number system to geometrical constructions and projective geometry, from topology and calculus to matters of principle and the Continuum Hypothesis, this fascinating survey allows readers to delve into mathematics as an organic whole rather than an empty drill in problem solving. With chapters largely independent of one another and sections that lead upward from basic to more advanced discussions, readers can easily pick and choose areas of particular interest without impairing their understanding of subsequent parts. Brought up to date with a new chapter by Ian Stewart, What is Mathematics, Second Edition offers new insights into recent mathematical developments and describes proofs of the Four-Color Theorem and Fermat's Last Theorem, problems that were still open when Courant and Robbins wrote this masterpiece, but ones that have since been solved.

Formal mathematics is like spelling and grammar: a matter of the correct application of local rules. Meaningful mathematics is like journalism: it tells an interesting story. But unlike some journalism, the story has to be true. The best mathematics is like literature: it brings a story to life before your eyes and involves you in it, intellectually and emotionally. What is Mathematics is a marvelously literate story: it opens a window onto the world of mathematics for anyone interested to view.Amazon.com Review
A 1996 revision ofa timeless classic originally published in 1941. Highly recommendedfor any serious student, teacher or scholar of mathematics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

excellent buy
Everything is in good condition as said.I am happy of doing business with the seller.
TKS.

typos galore, terrible layout
The book is littered with mangled formulas, mostly due to the fact the minus sign is missing from most formulas. This is completely unacceptable in any math book, but particularly so in a book aimed at beginners, who will probably feel bewildered by the huge amount of nonsensical formulas.

Adding insult to injury, the poor layout of Kindle edition makes the book hard to enjoy. Section headings often appear as orphans at the bottom of pages and many formulas are displayed as small, low-quality images. The low image quality is especially visible when reading the book on a Kindle 2 as opposed to for example the Kindle Mac app. Inlining formula images with running text is particularly annoying, since it deforms the text layout.

I was so annoyed by these problems that I tried to return this book, only to discover that returns are not allowed for digital books.

Do NOT buy the Kindle edition of this book.

A fascinating book.
For those who love mathematics, I can't praise this work highly enough. It's not designed so much to help the reader solve math problems as it is to impart a solid understanding of the fundamentals of the subject. Anyone who finds mathematics endlessly intriguing will be glad to own this book.

Math education at its best and most beautiful.
This book is so beautifully written that it epitomises an ideal of mathematics education. Everything is presented and explained clearly, which makes it suitable for the layman. The contents covered are also ambitious and wide-range. Topics are presented in a logical and satisfying manner. Natural numbers and the concept of induction are introduced early. Then a more thorough discussion of number system follows in Chapter 2 which concludes the background in arithmatic. After that the book shifts its focus to the opposite pole of mathematics where geometry (both euclidian and beyond) are presented in a way that algebra is employed to give greater understanding and appreciation of the topic and to allow the readers to understand the key role of algebra which helps bringing arithmetic and geometry together in a coherent manner.

Although I believe that the book is suited for lay people, we must not expect that the authors will hold you hand-in-hand while introducing you to the beauty of mathematics. The authors make clear that they want you to think. And think hard you will, if you want to get the best out of this book. By this, we have come to the greatest merit of this tome: sure, everything is clearly explained, however the most important messages are written not conspicuously but between the lines (and much of them in the exercises). We can only come to appreciate what the authors want to say when we commit ourselves in the required thinking part and discover for ourselves what the authors want us to know but didn't say. I think the book succeeds triumphantly in its writing style and is therefore difficult to be out done in this respect. Mathematics will continue to progress but this book will never become obsolete.

I do strongly encourage everyone who reads this book to do all the exercises in every chapter. You have no idea what you miss if you skip them; the are the crown-gem of this book. Don't be deterred if you cannot solve over a third of the problems. Just by thinking about them (albeit unable to solve) will move you closer to real understanding of the topics being discussed. Don't be appalled to know that answers are not provided in the back of the book. You know it when you solve it; this only heigthens the satisfaction of doing math.

I know many math-degree holders who hesitate to refer to themselves as mathematicians (they would just say "well, I had/did a degree in math."). I think that is because while they know a lot of mathematical facts and techniques, they never really understand or appreciate it in a fundamental way. This shows what is missing in our math education. This book is the ideal antidote.

Also check out books by John Stillwell. Most of his books are as good as this volume.

Incredibly thorough
Basic Math Quick Reference Handbook
This thorough coverage of so many aspects of mathematics forms a threshold that separates the interested enthusiast from the professional mathematician.
Couldn't be better. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

received on time
I received the book on time as promised. I purchased this book because I am volunteering teaching for math olympiad class in my child's school. ... Read more

Product Description

The Lial series has helped thousands of students succeed in developmental mathematics through its approachable writing style, supportive pedagogy, varied exercise sets, and complete supplements package. With this new edition, the authors continue to provide students and instructors with the best package for learning and teaching support–a book written with student success as its top priority, now with an emphasis on study skills growth and an expanded instructor supplements package.

Customer Reviews (2)

Appropriate book but lacking
This is an excellent book to learn math starting with the basics.However, this particular book did not contain the MyMathLab access code it was supposed to.Before ordering this book, if you need this access code, make sure you ask first, if it is included!!!!

Developmental Mathematics. A textbook for a good begining !!
Este texto es utilizado ampliamente en la mayoria de las universidades en los Estados Unidos y es usado en la Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico en los cursos basicos de algebra para estudiantes de ingenieria. Este texto le da enfasis al desarrollo y crecimiento de las habilidades de estudio (muy importante para los estudiantes de ingenieria) por lo que lo recomiendo, ademas, de que tambien es muy importante tener el texto y hacer los problemas de practica de modo que puedas aprender y salir adelante en los examenes..

Contenido:

Whole Numbers; Multiplying and Dividing Fractions; Adding and Subtracting Fractions; Decimals; Ratio and Proportion; Percent; Geometry; Statistics; The Real Number System; Equations, Inequalities, and Applications; Graphs of Linear Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables; Exponents and Polynomials; Factoring and Applications; Rational Expressions and Applications; Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities; Roots and Radicals; Quadratic Equations

... Read more

Product Description
Confusing Textbooks? Missed Lectures? Not Enough Time?

Fortunately for you, there's Schaum's Outlines. More than 40 million students have trusted Schaum's to help them succeed in the classroom and on exams. Schaum's is the key to faster learning and higher grades in every subject. Each Outline presents all the essential course information in an easy-to-follow, topic-by-topic format. You also get hundreds of examples, solved problems, and practice exercises to test your skills.

This Schaum's Outline gives you:

• Practice problems with full explanations that reinforce knowledge
• Coverage of the most up-to-date developments in your course field
• In-depth review of practices and applications

Fully compatible with your classroom text, Schaum's highlights all the important facts you need to know. Use Schaum's to shorten your study time-and get your best test scores!

Schaum's Outlines-Problem Solved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Incomplete
This book does not cover college level discrete math well enough. Recursion and induction are given only a cursory paragraph. Proofs are not adequately covered.

Good Book
This book is a good exercise book. It has tons of solved and review problems most of which are proofs of the theories explained through the chapters. Despite that, I do not see the book adequate for an undergraduate course by itself. It as of great use in tutorials and as a supporting reading.

Excellentstudy guide for students of discrete math and computer science
Discrete mathematics, or the study of finite systems, has become increasingly important for students of computer science, and this book is a good foundational text on the subject. This Schaum's outline is much more complete than the average Schaum's, and it is also very clear and instructive. It is not just a good text for discrete mathematics. It also covers the basics of abstract algebra and the basics of the theory of computation.
The first 3 chapters cover sets, relations, functions, and algorithms, including a very good section on the complexity of algorithms.Chapter 4 is on logic and propositional calculus, which is the foundation of artificial intelligence and digital logic.The next three chapters cover the basics of vectors, matrices, counting (permutations and combinations), and probability theory. This material is important in the design and analysis of operating systems. Next are chapters on graph theory, directed graphs, and binary trees, all of which should be covered in any good course on the analysis of algorithms. These chapters include discussions of planarity, traversibility, minimal paths, and Warshall's and Huffman's algorithms.There is a chapter on languages and machines that includes material on regular expressions, automata, Turing machines, and computable functions. There is also a chapter dedicated to the very basics of abstract algebra, and another chapter on boolean algebra.
This text is therefore a superset of what you will probably find in an upper level undergraduate class in discrete mathematics, and is definitely a book you want to keep around especially if you are a computer science student and need additional study material for your core courses of artificial intelligence, analysis of algorithms, operating systems, and theory of computation. Highly recommended.

Typical Schaum's
This is a very helpful outline whether you are taking the class and need a supplement or are just trying to learn the material on your own.The writing is clear and succinct, and there are hundreds and hundreds of practice problems all of which are answered.The topics covered are standard for the topic, so this book will cover everything in your class unless your teacher has some unorthodox lesson plan.My one caveat is that there are occasional errors in the answer keys.This can be frustrating especially if you don't feel confident in your own work.The errors are far and few between for the most part and if you can live with them then you will get much use out of this book.Highly recommended.

Very instructive
This math book simply helps and supports learning with good, specific examples and no jargon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Helpful At Homework Time
I purchased several textbooks and workbooks this past year to assist my sons with their homework.Quite often their assignments would reference pages in their textbook, however the school wouldn't permit students to remove textbooks from school.
I found it very helpful to have a set of textbooks at home.Easier than even Google!

This will get you started!
This book will get you restarted in math! We bought a copy for home so our daughter does not have to carry it back and forth, but it is a really good refresher.

Everyday Mathematics: Student Reference Book : Grade 3
Brings math to life for the student.
Everyday Mathematics: Student Reference Book : Grade 3

homework help
It is nice to have this book at home for Homelinks and homework help

Great review
This book has helped my daughter understand and retain the math presented to her in 5th grade. I have purchased one for review over the summer and for future reference for her. ... Read more

Product Description
This market leading text is known for its comprehensive coverage, careful and correct mathematics, outstanding exercises and self contained subject matter parts for maximum flexibility.

Thoroughly updated and streamlined to reflect new developments in the field, the ninth edition of this bestselling text features modern engineering applications and the uses of technology. Kreyszig introduces engineers and computer scientists to advanced math topics as they relate to practical problems. The material is arranged into seven independent parts: ODE; Linear Algebra, Vector Calculus; Fourier Analysis and Partial Differential Equations; Complex Analysis; Numerical methods; Optimization, graphs; and Probability and Statistics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (105)

Good transaction
Bought the book, got the book in expected amount of time, the book was the exact one I ordered.No complaints.

seriously, not worth the money
it's been said before, but it bears repeating:

the text itself is understandably a bit short in explaining details that you should already know; after all, all these topics would never fit into a single book otherwise.i say this, even though it still frustrates the hell out of me when i get stumped.

the solutions manual is a different story.when i got it in the mail, i immediately knew it would be useless.i didn't even need to open it to know that much.very few problems are covered, and without detail.it's not worth carrying around and it's not worth the price.

if you're considering a SSM for this book, if you think you'll need help figuring out this material,
save your money and get a cramster subscription instead.they have this book, this edition.

The Worst Service Delivery I have Experienced on Amazon
I ordered a book on August 25 and paid for expedited delivery. After a week, I sent him an email inquiring about my item. After 9 days he sends an email confirming delivery to me by USPS. As of September 4, I have still not received the item. This is my worst buying experience on Amazon and I hope sellers such as this will be prohibited from further selling on Amazon

Kreyszig will live forever in our hearts
It's really sad to know that Professor Kreyszig died unexpectedly on December 12, 2008 during a trip to Europe. Nevertheless, his scientific legacy will remain with us forever. Besides its target audience (i.e., traditional engineers), also I strongly recommend this book to any wannabe financial economist or quant, due to the pedagogical treatment of this book about tons of math concepts and techniques that are bread-and-butter in modern finance (linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, Fourier Transforms, complex analysis, and so forth).The mastery of the material covered in this book is a prerequisite to start the study of stochastic differential equations and other advanced concepts in financial mathematics that are not included in this book.

Not bad
Very difficult problems, and somewhat difficult to follow at times, but what can you expect from mathematics of this level? Overall, the book was decent, but that could have done more to make it easier to read and use, like including practical examples, which the book lacks almost entirely. ... Read more

Product Description
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the bond an option markets were dominated by traders who had learned their craft by experience. They believed that there experience and intuition for trading were a renewable edge; this is, that they could make money just as they always had by continuing to trade as they always had. By the mid-1990s, a revolution in trading had occurred; the old school grizzled traders had been replaced by a new breed of quantitative analysts, applying mathematics to the "art" of trading and making of it a science.Similarly in poker, for decades, the highest level of pokers have been dominated by players who have learned the game by playing it, "road gamblers" who have cultivated intuition for the game and are adept at reading other players' hands from betting patterns and physical tells. Over the last five to ten years, a whole new breed has risen to prominence within the poker community. Applying the tools of computer science and mathematics to poker and sharing the information across the Internet, these players have challenged many of the assumptions that underlie traditional approaches to the game. One of the most important features of this new approach is a reliance on quantitative analysis and the application of mathematics to the game. The intent of this book is to provide an introduction to quantitative techniques as applied to poker and to a branch of mathematics that is particularly applicable to poker, game theory.There are mathematical techniques that can be applied for poker that are difficult and complex. But most of the mathematics of poker is really not terribly difficult, and the authors have sought to make seemingly difficult topics accessible to players without a very strong mathematical background. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Very math heavy
This book is very math heavy (duh) in that you will need to know basic calculus to comprehend it.From about the 3rd page on, it become math focus and you will need to know the beginning to be able to get the later on concepts.

Print too small
I've read the introduction and the beginning of the first chapter and I enjoy the way the authors think, BUT the print on this book is ridiculously small!!!!I have good near vision, but reading this book gives me a headache.

Excellent Advanced Poker Book...
I am well-read in poker literature and would recommend this book for advanced players.It will benefit cash game, tourney and SnG players alike.[If you are an improving intermediate player, but have a math or economics background, I think you would also find it helpful.If you have read less than 5 poker books or need to learn more fundamentals, you would likely get more value from reading other books first.]Many of the concepts presented apply broadly across different types of poker games.

This book exposes the true (and sometimes counter-intuitive) nature of common situations that arise in games of confrontation.The authors do an excellent job making game theory accessible to those without a math or econ/finance background, while not being afraid to ply into the underlying math for those interested.They successfully keep the topics focused on their relevance to poker, trimming out discussion that would be more mathematically complete, but bog down the poker learning.

They also do an excellent job of building up from fundamental concepts and examples (variable-constrained "toy" games) to more complex and applicable scenarios similar to those found in the mathematically complex world of poker.They gradually introduce new concepts and variables into the toy games as they come to resemble actual poker scenarios, with insights gained along the way.It helps solidify a meta-understanding of the game, and I suspect that even most advanced players will at least refine aspects of their play after reading.Note that it is, however, written in a heavy, take-your-time-digesting-it style, so it's not a quick breezy airport read. Some highlights:

+ The best poker book by far that I have encountered for game theory topics.
+ There are plenty of new ideas presented even for well-read players.
+ Delves elagantly into the nature of optimal play, exploitation and counter-exploitation.Learn to dominate others to extract value and how to adjust to prevent yourself from being dominated.
+ Presents concepts of risk, bankroll management, etc that I have yet to see elsewhere in poker literature.
+ Challenges some common conventions of most poker players and some authors.
+ Many concepts are digestable for most without a heavy math backgroud, though those gifted in math will likely take away a deeper understanding after reading.

- One aspect I would have liked to see more about is the Jam-or-fold scnearios.They do an excellent job of showing solid HEADS-UP strategy, but I would have liked to see this expanded to include 3+ player ICM-type scenarios.I would have also liked to see them quantify some of the weaknesses in ICM modeling, such as accounting for impending blinds, etc.In other words, a position- / equity- / blind-dependent jam-or-fold framework for a several player games would have been very helpful (even if it accepts ICM as-is, but especially if it refined it).

If you didn't major in Math, don't get this book.
So I made it through Calculus II in college about 8 years ago and felt like I needed to complete my math major before understanding this book.It goes a little too deep into the mathmatics of poker.Actually, way too deep.The equations used to make their point are ridiculous in length.I guess I was hoping for simpler math that can be easily used at the table to compute different pot odds, etc.This is not that book.This is good for in depth study of poker mathematics and discussion groups... such as an actual classroom study over several months.They have good points but it can all be summed up easily after taking out the 95% of fluff used in math language...but then the book would only be about 20 pages long.Instead here is what happens when math geniuses get to author a book.

Not for everyone
Firstly, if you have not taken at least one statistics course, you probably won't understand much in this book.There are also some topics using calculus, but are explained in a way to where you may not actually need to understand the calculus in order to understand the point they are trying to make.I am currently in college and have only taken Statistics I, and Calculus I & II so far and I really had to focus in some parts of the book in order to follow the math.

I learned A LOT from this book and was very happy that I read it early in my "poker career."It goes extremely deep into seemingly-simple topics and shows how you can eek out a slight percentage advantage in certain situations.I benefited the most from the parts covering "optimal play" where some interesting points were made.

I own ~10 no-limit hold'em books (most of the popular ones) and this book was by far the most advanced book I have read.I would highly recommend this book to any intermediate/advanced players looking to improve their game, but not if you can't handle a lot of math; this book isn't for everyone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Fast shipping but the book was pretty beat up
Got this book very quickly. Thanks to the seller for getting it shipped ASAP. The book itself, however, was pretty worn out. I guess this is to be expected considering the book has been around since 2005 (according to the stamps on the inside) but I thought by the description that it would be in better shape.

Very bad
There are little to no explanations, the problems you want assistance, are never in the back.

Never enough examples.

Very very bad.

Experience with product
The product was brought in very decent condition. I do not anything bad to say about considering the book itself is pretty old, but still definitely held together.

Very good
The book arrived as promised, in better condition than I expected.I anticipated more wear & tear.

Advanced Mathematics Precalculus with Discrete Mathematics and Data Analysis
The book is as advertized.However, the application it is needed for requires a solutions manual.After getting the book I am finding that locating a solutions manual is nearly impossible. ... Read more

Product Description
Statistics, probability, alternative answer formats, and instruction for the Casio fx-260, the official calculator of the GED Test. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Great book for GED
I'm studying to take my GED right now and this book helps so much. I took a practice test before using this book and one after, my score before was not that bad, but it wasn't great either, after using this book my score increased by quite a bit. Awesome book if you have some trouble understanding math.

GED Math
The book was in great condition and it's a good book to learn from.I'm going back to college and I needed to brush up on my skills so I'm taking math for adults and this is the book we are using. Great math book to have and keep for years & years.

May God Continue To Bless You
I just want to say thanks soooo much for sending my niece her GED Math book. She is incarcerated at this time and pursuing to attain her GED. The math portion was a challenge for her so this is truly a blessing. In the past it's been very difficult for her to receive books from Amazon due to her location. She is very grateful as well & loves the book.

Step by Step
This is a great workbook, it gives you step by step instructions on each format. Easy to understand instructions and plenty of practice problems so you understand fully of each form of math, i am not completely finished with the book, but so far it has lived up to the price.

Excellent GED Book!!!
I used this book as well as the corresponding books for the other GED subjects and was able to pass the GED with perfect and near perfect scores.My GED instructor even commented on the fact that I was done with each test within a fraction of the time allotted for each test.

There is way more info in these books than you actually need to know for the test.If you can master what is in these books you will pass the GED on the first try with no problems. ... Read more

Product Description
In problem solving, as in street fighting, rules are for fools: do whatever works—don't just stand there! Yet we often fear an unjustified leap even though it may land us on a correct result. Traditional mathematics teaching is largely about solving exactly stated problems exactly, yet life often hands us partly defined problems needing only moderately accurate solutions. This engaging book is an antidote to the rigor mortis brought on by too much mathematical rigor, teaching us how to guess answers without needing a proof or an exact calculation.

In Street-Fighting Mathematics, Sanjoy Mahajan builds, sharpens, and demonstrates tools for educated guessing and down-and-dirty, opportunistic problem solving across diverse fields of knowledge—from mathematics to management. Mahajan describes six tools: dimensional analysis, easy cases, lumping, picture proofs, successive approximation, and reasoning by analogy. Illustrating each tool with numerous examples, he carefully separates the tool—the general principle—from the particular application so that the reader can most easily grasp the tool itself to use on problems of particular interest.

Street-Fighting Mathematics grew out of a short course taught by the author at MIT for students ranging from first-year undergraduates to graduate students ready for careers in physics, mathematics, management, electrical engineering, computer science, and biology. They benefited from an approach that avoided rigor and taught them how to use mathematics to solve real problems.

Street-Fighting Mathematics is available in print and online under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Share Alike license. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

important tools for scientists and engineers
The Trinity test occurred on a calm morning.Enrico Fermi, one of the observers, began dropping bits of paper about 40 seconds after the explosion; pieces in the air when the blast wave arrived were deflected by about 2.5 meters.From this crude measurement, Fermi estimated the bomb's yield to be ten kilotons; he was accurate within a factor of two.Although Street-Fighting Mathematics does not address the problem of estimating bomb yields, it gives us a reasonably generic toolbox for generating quantitative estimates from a few facts, a lot of intuition, and impressively little calculus.As one of the reviews on Amazon says, this book makes us smarter.

Street-Fighting Mathematics -- the title refers to the fact that in a street fight, it's better to have a quick and dirty answer than to stand there thinking about the right thing to do -- is based on the premise that we can and should use rapid estimation techniques to get rough answers to difficult problems.There are good reasons for preferring estimation over rigorous methods: the answer is arrived at quickly, the full set of input data may not be needed, and messy calculus-based or numerical techniques can often be avoided.Perhaps more important, by avoiding a descent into difficult symbol pushing, a greater understanding of the problem's essentials can sometimes be gained and a valuable independent check on rigorous -- and often more error prone -- methods is obtained.

Chapter 1 is about dimensional analysis: the idea that by attaching dimension units (kg, m/s2, etc.) to quantities in calculations about the physical world, we gain some error checking and also some insight into the solution.Dimensional analysis is simple and highly effective and it should be second nature for all of us.Too often it isn't; my guess is that it gets a poor treatment in secondary and higher education.Perhaps it is relevant that about ten years ago I went looking for books about dimensional analysis and found only one, which had been published in 1964 (Dimensional Analysis and Scale Factors by R.C. Pankhurst).If Mahajan had simply gone over basic dimensional analysis techniques, it would have been a useful refresher.However, he upps the ante and shows how to use it to guess solutions to differential and integral equations: a genuinely surprising technique that I hope to use in the future.

Chapter 2 is about easy cases: the technique of using degenerate cases of difficult problems to rapidly come up with answers that can be used as sanity checks and also as starting points for guessing the more general solution.Like dimensional analysis, this is an absolutely fundamental technique that we should all use.A fun example of easy cases is found not in Street-Fighting Mathematics, but in one of Martin Gardner's books: compute the remaining volume of a sphere which has had a cylindrical hole 6 inches long drilled through its center. The hard case deals with spheres of different radii. In contrast, if we guess that the problem has a unique solution, we're free to choose the easy case where the diameter of the cylinder is zero, trivially giving the volume as 36 cubic inches. Many applications of easy cases are simple enough, but again Mahajan takes it further, this time showing us how to use it to solve a difficult fluid flow problem.

Chapter 3 is about lumping: replacing a continuous, possibly infinite function with a few chunks of finite size and simple shape.This is another great technique.The chapter starts off easily enough, but it ends up being the most technically demanding part of the book; I felt seriously out of my depth (it would probably help if I had used a differential or integral equation in anger more recently than 1995).

Chapter 4 is about pictorial proofs: using visual representations to create compelling mathematical explanations where the bare symbols are non-intuitive or confusing.This chapter is perhaps the oddball: pictorial proofs are entertaining and elegant, but they seldom give us the upper hand in a street fight.I love the example where it becomes basically trivial to derive the formula for the area of a circle when the circle is cut into many pie-pieces and its circumference is unraveled along a line.

Chapter 5 is "taking out the big part": the art of breaking a difficult problem into a first-order analysis and one or more corrective terms.The idea is that analyzing the big part gives us an understanding of the important terms, and also that in many cases we may end up computing few or none of the corrections since the first- or second-order answer may turn out to be good enough.Mahajan introduces the idea of low-entropy equations: an appealing way of explaining why we want and need simplicity in street-fighting mathematics.

Finally, Chapter 6 is about reasoning by analogy: attacking a difficult problem by solving a related, simpler one and then attempting to generalize the result.The example of how many parts an n-dimensional space is divided into by introducing some n-1 dimensional constructs is excellent, and ends up being quite a bit more intricate than I'd have guessed.This chapter isn't the most difficult one, but it is probably the deepest: analogies between different areas of mathematics can border on being spooky.One gets the feeling that the universe is speaking to us but, like children at a cocktail party, we're not quite putting all of the pieces together.

Back of the envelope estimation is one of the main elements of a scientist or engineer's mental toolkit and I've long believed that any useful engineer should be able to do it, at least in a basic way.Others seem to agree, and in fact quantitative estimation is a lively sub-genre of the Microsoft / Google / Wall Street interview question.Speaking frankly, as an educator of engineers in the US, our system fails somewhat miserably in teaching students the basics of street-fighting mathematics.The problem (or rather, part of it) is that mathematics education focuses on rigorous proofs and derivations, while engineering education relies heavily on pre-derived cookie-cutter methods that produce little understanding.In contrast, estimation-based methods require strong physical intuition and good judgment in order to discard irrelevant aspects of a problem while preserving its essence.The "rapidly discard irrelevant information" part no doubt explains the prevalence of these questions in job interviews: does anyone want employees who consistently miss the big picture in order to focus on stupid stuff?

In summary this is a great book that should be required reading for scientists and engineers.Note that there's no excuse for not reading it: the book is under a creative commons license and the entire contents can be downloaded as PDF. Also, the paper version is fairly inexpensive (currently $18 from Amazon).The modes of thinking in Street-Fighting Mathematics are valuable and so are the specific tricks.Be aware that it pulls no punches: to get maximum benefit, one would want to come to the table with roughly the equivalent of a college degree in some technical field, including a good working knowledge of multivariate calculus.

A treasure trove
This book is a treasure trove of intuitive, practical, and brilliant mathematical techniques. Every person with an interest in mathematics, science, or engineering will enjoy this highly stimulating and fun book. For example, beautiful pictorial proofs of the inequality between the arithmetic mean and geometric mean illustrate the power, clarity, speed, and insight of intuitive visual methods versus traditional symbolic grungy methods. The power of working with operators to perform complex series summations is explained so clearly that both the beginner and the expert can experience the `aha' joy that comes with true understanding. Fluid-mechanics calculations via methods of dimensional analysis and the method of `easy cases', methods for quick integration by `lumping' that are remarkably accurate, techniques of successive approximation to solve physics problems with insight, rapidly converging series for pi, and pictorial proofs of series summations are just some of the many gems in this book. Sanjoy is one of MIT'sbest teachers and his book, therefore, reads like a novel. This book breaks new ground in the teaching of mathematics and will make powerful mathematical street fighters of all of its readers.

Title poorly chosen
The title implies that this book might contain remedial activities for street kids.It contains nothing of the sort.

This book makes you smarter
Dr. Mahajan's has been teaching this sort of course for a while now and has been generous enough to make almost all his material available through his course web pages at MIT for The Art of Approximation and Street-Fighting Mathematics. If you want to preview this book I suggest you check those websites out.

The book is reminiscent of Consider a Spherical Cow by Harte, The Art and Craft of Problem-Solving by Zeitz, and How to Solve It by Polya. Although much of the book focuses on how to avoid doing integrals and taking derivatives, it presumes the reader is familiar with calculus. In this respect it's different from the books I just mentioned and other ones out there on approximation, e.g. Guesstimation. The example problems are diverse, most are borrowed from physics, geometry, and math, with a few are that are Fermi-type "real-world" scenarios.

My main complaint is that the book is so short. I wish the author had combined this book with material from his Order of Magnitude Physics and Art of Approximation courses, which are marvelous not only for the problem-solving on display but also for the physics content.

This type of book addresses a serious gap in American math-science education. Learning techniques for approximation allows one to tackle the sort of ill-posed problems one is most likely to encounter in the real-world. It is also intimately tied to recognizing the salient features of a problem, such as the physical principles involved in a physics problem or the most questionable assumption in an economic model. Street-Fighting Math deserves a wide readership and will hopefully influence other math-science teachers and authors. ... Read more

Product Description
Worksheets for Classroom or Lab Practice offer extra practice exercises for every section of the text, with ample space for students to show their work. These lab- and classroom-friendly workbooks also list the learning objectives and key vocabulary terms for every text section, along with vocabulary practice problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Basic College Mathematics
When recieved, this item was in excellent condition. The book still contained the cd, no writing on any pages, and no torn pages. All together, a great purchase. What makes it even better is that this seller had the book marked at $100 less than the price of the school bookstore, and it made it to my mailbox within a week. I would definitely recommend this seller to anyone that needs to purchase a book.

Great
Fantastic. speedy delivery and the book was in great condition for being used. Thank you

Basic College Mathematics
The text itself was helpful; however, both my original purchase and it's replacement both had defective DVD's to accompany the text.I was very disappointed in this.

Missing pages
The book is in good condition, however it is missing many pages.This is not helpful.It was represented as only slight wear from use.This is disappointing for a student to discover while working.

Just the basics
The text 'Basic College Mathematics' is used at the college where I tutor in mathematics as the foundational course for mathematics in all programmes.While many students test out of this level into algebraic topics, for those students whose mathematics is decades old, or was never perfect in the beginning, this book offers a fairly clear and systematic approach to mathematics topics.

The chapters cover the broad topics in this order:Whole Numbers, including the basic arithmetical functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), was well as basics of exponents and rounding; Fractions, including the basic arithmetical functions as well as beginning to deal with mixed numbers and order of operations; Decimals, including the basic arithmetical functions as well as continuing with order of operations and decimal/fraction conversions; Ratio and proportion ideas; Percentages theoretical and applied; Basic Measurements and conversions of units between British/American units and metric standards; Geometry at the most basic level of shapes and arithmetical formulas dealing with those shapes for area, perimeter, etc.; Statistics at a very elementary level, such as reading charts and graphs, histograms, and the three concepts of mean, median and mode; Signed and special numbers, including the negative numbers, as well as scientific notation; and finally a brief introduction to Algebra, which introduces the basic concepts of variables, like terms, and equations.

Each of the chapters deals with things in a mathematical as well as an 'English' way - explaining in words the concepts and operations being carried out in the numbers.Each section of each chapter covers only a few key concepts, with enough problems for solving that reinforce the principles thoroughly.Each section also as word problems (story problems) to test the real-world applicability of the numerical/mathematical concepts being presented, so when students ask (as they always do and shall), 'When am I ever going to use this?' there are examples drawn from typical situations.

Tobey and Slater have also worked to make various connections with geometry, graphs and charts, tables, as well as internet resources to provide the most up-to-date and useful text.There are specific problems along the way that assume the use of calculators (as most of real-life mathematics now involves calculators).

The book's design is interesting from a graphic-design standpoint, but from the standpoint of clarity to the students, the pages are a bit `busy'.While I appreciate the need to reduce the number of pages in an effort to keep the costs down (text-book prices are typically higher than popular-book prices, and this text is no exception), more white space on the pages would probably help the accessibility and make it a little less intimidating.

This book serves as a good foundation for students to proceed at our college forward into Beginning Algebra (another book by Tobey and Slater on this topic is used for the next-level course), and then further into Intermediate Algebra and beyond. ... Read more