Advanced Mathematics: Precalculus With Discrete Mathematics and Data Analysis

Rating:
Summary: Advanced Mathematics
Review: Advanced Mathematics is one of the most difficult math books I have ever used in school. Usually math books give decent, fully-explained examples at the beginning of each chapter, but this book gives ones that are confusing and without explanation. The only way this book can be a valuable math resource is with instruction from a teacher. On days that I was absent from class, I needed to copy notes from friends since the book did not explain anything. This book is worthless by itself.

Rating:
Summary: Relatively Good
Review: Advanced Mathematics: Precalculus with Discrete Mathematics and Data Analysis. This book consists of: a refresher of Algebraic Expressions and Application in the form of the function (linear, quadratic, and other polynomial), Logarithms and exponents, a review of Analytic Geometry and Trigonometry, Discrete mathematics as it applies to Sequences and Series, Matrices, Combinatorics, Probability, Statistics, Modeling, and Limits and an introduction of Calculus in the form of the derivative.

The book states that an emphasis on application is an intrinsic part of it, this, however is not really the case. The book, while showing an appropriate number of application problems in certain sections, lacks that application horribly in others. However, these lacking sections are few enough that it deserves a fair amount of credit in the attempt.

Rating:
Summary: Just another math textbook in town.
Review: Richard Brown, in this book, fails to provide adequate explanation for several topics he discusses, and often falls far short of par when it comes to the quality of these discussions. Some problems are truly challenging, but a large majority are overly simplistic, and will fail to challenge anyone looking for what the book advertises, i.e. Advanced Mathematics.

Another question that must be raised is that of Why this book only provides the odd answers to the "Written Excercises" section of the book... is it because they do not trust students who are mature enough in mathematics to learn things at this level to actually work out their answers themselves?

All in all, this book is simply another math textbook, and therefore gets a mediocre rating for being far too "average" to make an impact in the competitive field of mathematical writing.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: This book is generally good about explaining the topics covered in the recommended homework, but it is weak in examples and visual aids. I would recommend this book to a student for Final Exam practice, or a teacher for tests.