Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for Geometry
Review: An excellent text for learning or refreshing your memory on geometry. I felt the sections on trigonometry could have been better, but overall a helpful book.
Rating: 
Summary: Bummer
Review: Content is fine. Binding is not.
The book is falling apart.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: I like the no non-sense presentation of the material. The book moves very quickly. It is dense in topics, but the presentation is very readable. You'll often wonder why you're not further into the book... yet you feel that you have really covered a lot of material.The explanations are great. And I have found that by answering the questions, that I catch tiny little mistakes in my understanding. I picked up this book after a debate with one of my friends over a trig question. I am very satisfied with my purchase and highly recommend this book. John D.
Rating:
Summary: good as a companion only
Review: If you want to test your knowledge of geometry and trig after reading another text book, this is good. However, this is not a standalone book. It offers problems and answers, but very little in examples and explanations of why. Unless you want a refresher, I'd go somwhere else, maybe a dummies or idiots guide instead.
Rating:
Summary: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
Review: Like many people, I didn't learn anything in any significant way in high school, so later in life I found out I lacked the necessary mathematical skills to pursue my interests in science. Looking to fill that void I got this book and its companion introductory volume, Peter Selby and Steve Slavin's "Practical Algebra: A Self-Teaching Guide", and am extremely relieved to find out mathematical illiteracy can be remedied with the right tools. These books not only taught me the basics of algebra and geometry, but more importantly, gave me a glimpse of how mathematical ideas are developed. Concepts that appeared to me to be mystical elaborations now seem full of reason and purpose, thanks to the self-contained nature of these two books and the step by step construction of ever more complex themes. The authors focus not on mechanical repetition but on understanding, on making sense to the student, so everything fits in in a meaningful way, instead of appearing as a loose aggregation of disjointed bits. I really got a lot of enjoyment out of learning all the material, and finding out what a wonderful world of ideas this knowledge opens up. Of course, being a great book doesn't mean being a flawless book, and this one indeed has its shortcomings. First, this two volumes do not cover logarithms at all, so you'll have to look for that subject elsewhere. Also, the plain geometry, analytic geometry, and conic sections chapters have insufficient exercises, so you'll probably want to get an additional text to get some more practice in those areas. Finally, even though the books are a very good and well-rounded introduction, they do not go into much depth in any area. On the other hand, the introduction to limits is truly great. If your knowledge of mathematics has ever held you back professionally or personally, this is a great place to start changing that!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Geometry
Review: Mr. Selby's book has given my mind a "rebirth" on subjects fading into the past. His text is very well organized and very clear. I very much appreciate his text, and highly recommend it specially to college students and "old timers!.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Engineering Review by old timers
Review: Mr. Selby's book has given my mind a "rebirth" on subjects fading into the past. His text is very well organized and very clear. I very much appreciate his text, and highly recommend it specially to college students and "old timers!.
Rating: 
Summary: There aren't enough exercises..
Review: The best and most enjoyable way to learn math is through practice, and although Peter H. Selby articulately explains the concepts presented in this book, there just aren't enough exercises for you to "teach yourself" the subject. A given section on plane geometry will give you about 15 abstract principles followed by 5 easy practice exercises. I have learned from this book, but in order to do so, I've had to make flashcards and do lots and lots of rereading to help me memorize the vocabulary and rules. This book would be okay for someone who just needs a quick refresher, but if you really want to learn the material, I would suggest buying separate 350-400 page books for each subject.
Rating:
Summary: too much info, in way too small a typeface
Review: The type size is too small for my eyes to read. The circles, and triangles are everyware. I'm drowning, Save me!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! Wish I would have had this author teaching me.
Review: There is no such thing as a student who is "slow" in understanding. There is however a teacher who does not master the art of communicating. A good student memorizes in order to pass a grade. A slow student is normally bugged by the "why" of everything. However I have had the honor of solving engineering problems for students from MIT and other top Universities because my professors were able to explain the "why" to me. Mr. Peter H. Selby is an excellent author. You flow through his pages without having to read over paragraphs several times in order to understand the sense of his explanations without stress and fatigue. There is no guessing nor ambiguous wording. It is difficult to put down his book for the day. I look forward to his future books.
| 
