Functioning in the Real World: A Precalculus Experience, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: An interesting approach to differential equations
Review: I read the preceding reviews and don't find what was said untrue. The simplicity and algorithmically solved problems, however, belie the sophisticated look at functions. My students found the work with difference equations difficult because of the symbolic manipulation, but their teacher (me), appreciated how the text took the idea of derivatives, reduced this concept into a discrete function, and concluded with the antiderivative. Very clever.

Rating:
Summary: The text is wordy and explains theory very poorly.
Review: The text is very wordy and problems could be answered in the book or in a solutions manual. Very few illustrations are a problem. Our Prof. had to explain several mistakes in the text that were completely incorrect.

Rating:
Summary: A poorly designed and edited introduction to Precalculus.
Review: This textbook, although presenting a basic approach to the fundamentals of Precalculus, provides a cluttered collection of confusing explanations and poorly edited questions. The cover proves to be the best designed part of the bookl; inside there is little illustration and lots of wordy text. The book contains no full set of answers which could often leave a teacher stranded in some of its poorly phrased, misguided questions. Overall, a poorly conceived, designed, edited, and published textbook.