Popular & Elementary

Pre-Calculus Demystified

Packed with practical examples, graphs, and Q&As, this complete self-teaching guide from the best-selling author of Algebra Demystified covers all the essential topics, including: absolute value, nonlinear inequalities, functions and their graphs, inverses, proportion and ratio, and much more.

Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science))

Tips for simplifying tricky operations

Get the skills you need to solve problems and equations and be ready for algebra class

Whether you're a student preparing to take algebra or a parent who wants to brush up on basic math, this fun, friendly guide has the tools you need to get in gear. From positive, negative, and whole numbers to fractions, decimals, and percents, you'll build necessary skills to tackle more advanced topics, such as imaginary numbers, variables, and algebraic equations.

• Understand fractions, decimals, and percents

• Unravel algebra word problems

• Grasp prime numbers, factors, and multiples

• Work with graphs and measures

• Solve single and multiple variable equations

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

The seemingly impossible Zen task--writing a book about nothing--has a loophole: people have been chatting, learning, and even fighting about nothing for millennia. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, by noted science writer Charles Seife, starts with the story of a modern battleship stopped dead in the water by a loose zero, then rewinds back to several hundred years BCE. Some empty-headed genius improved the traditional Eastern counting methods immeasurably by adding zero as a placeholder, which allowed the genesis of our still-used decimal system. It's all been uphill from there, but Seife is enthusiastic about his subject; his synthesis of math, history, and anthropology seduces the reader into a new fascination with the most troubling number.

Why did the Church reject the use of zero? How did mystics of all stripes get bent out of shape over it? Is it true that science as we know it depends on this mysterious round digit? Zero opens up these questions and lets us explore the answers and their ramifications for our oh-so-modern lives. Seife has fun with his format, too, starting with chapter 0 and finishing with an appendix titled "Make Your Own Wormhole Time Machine." (Warning: don't get your hopes up too much.) There are enough graphs and equations to scare off serious numerophobes, but the real story is in the interactions between artists, scientists, mathematicians, religious and political leaders, and the rest of us--it seems we really do have nothing in common. --Rob Lightner

Charles Seife traces the origins and colorful history of the number zero from Aristotle to superstring theory by way of Pythagoras, the Kabbalists, and Einstein. Weaving together ancient dramas and state-of-the-art science, Zero is a concise tour of a universe of ideas bound up in the simple notion of nothingness.

Pre-Calculus For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science))

Getting ready for calculus, but feel confused? Have no fear! This unintimidating, hands-on guide walks you through all the essential topics, from absolute value and quadratic equations to logarithms and exponential functions to trig identities and matrix operations. You'll understand the concepts — not just the number crunching — and see how to perform all tasks, from graphing to tackling proofs.

• Apply the major theorems and formulas
• Graph trig functions like a pro
• Find trig values on the unit circle
• Tackle analytic geometry
• Identify function limits and continuity

Trigonometry (Lial/Hornsby/Schneider Series)

This book, intended for a graphing calculator optional trigonometry course, offers students the content and tools they will need to successfully master trigonometry. The authors have addressed the needs of students who will continue their study of mathematics, as well as those who are taking trigonometry as their final mathematics course. Emphasis is placed on exploring mathematical concepts by using real date, current applications and optional technology. Applied examples and exercises, allowing students to focus on real-life applications of mathematics. Selected examples feature traditional algebraic as well as optional graphing calculator solutions. We have taken great care to only use this format in examples where the graphing calculator can naturally be used to support and/or enhance the algebraic solution. For those interested in Mathematics.

Precalculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic (7th Edition)

In this new edition of Precalculus, Seventh Edition, the authors encourage graphical, numerical, and algebraic modeling of functions as well as a focus on problem solving, conceptual understanding, and facility with technology. They responded to many helpful suggestions provided by students and teachers in order to create a book that is designed for instructors and written for students. As a result, we believe that the changes made in this edition make this the most effective precalculus text available today.

Precalculus : Mathematics for Calculus: 5th Edition (with CD-ROM)

This best selling author team explains concepts simply and clearly, without glossing over difficult points. Problem solving and mathematical modeling are introduced early and reinforced throughout, so that when students finish the course, they have a solid foundation in the principles of mathematical thinking. This comprehensive, evenly paced book provides complete coverage of the function concept and integrates substantial graphing calculator materials that help students develop insight into mathematical ideas. The authors' attention to detail and clarity, as in James Stewart's market-leading Calculus text, is what makes this text the market leader.

Primary Grade Challenge Math

Primary Grade Challenge Math offers material that goes beyond calculation skills for those children who enter the primary grades already knowing basic concepts. This curriculum allows parents and teachers to instill a deeper level of mathematical understanding and thinking skills in young children while nurturing a love of mathematics. (Grades 1st - 4th)

Each chapter's questions are broken down into four levels:
Level 1 (easy)
Level 2 (somewhat challenging)
Level 3 (challenging)
Einstein (very challenging)

Includes chapters on: Sequences, Problem-solving, Money, Percents, Algebraic Thinking, Negative Numbers, Logic, Ratios, Probability, Measurements, Fractions, Division.

College Algebra (Lial/Hornsby/Schneider Series)

Precalculus Seventh Edtition

This market-leading text continues to provide both students and instructors with sound, consistently structured explanations of the mathematical concepts. Designed for a one- or two-term course that prepares students to study calculus, the new Seventh Edition retains the features that have made Precalculus a complete solution for both students and instructors: interesting applications, cutting-edge design, and innovative technology combined with an abundance of carefully written exercises.

• New! Side-by-side Example Solutions for select examples include multiple problem solving approaches—such as algebraic, graphical, and numerical—to appeal to a variety of teaching and learning styles.
• New! Checkpoints after each Example/Solution refer students to similar drills in the Section Exercises, allowing students to practice and reinforce the concepts they just learned. Answers to Checkpoints are included at the back of the book.
• New! Vocabulary Checks open every set of Section Exercises. This review of mathematical terms, formulas, and theorems provides regular assessment and reinforcement of students' understanding of algebraic language and concepts.
• Exercise Sets have been carefully analyzed and revised to improve the categorization of problems from basic skill-building to challenging; improve the pairing of similar odd- and even-numbered exercises; update all real data; and add real-life and real-data applications.
• New! Make a Decision applications—presented throughout the text at the end of selected exercise sets—are based on large sets of real data. These extended modeling applications give students the opportunity to use all the mathematical concepts and techniques they've learned and apply them to large sets of real date—analyzing it, graphing it, and making conjectures about its behavior. These applications are featured in Eduspace and the Online Learning Center in an interactive format.
• Eduspace, powered by Blackboard, Houghton Mifflin's online learning environment, brings your students quality online homework, tutorials, multimedia, and testing that correspond to the College Algebra text. This content is paired with the recognized course management tools of Blackboard.
• For copyright 2007, two titles have been added to the Precalculus Series: Precalculus with Limits and Precalculus: A Concise Course. These titles enhance the scope of the series, making it even more flexible and adaptable to a variety of learning and teaching styles.