Precalculus: A Problems-Oriented Approach (with CD-ROM and Ilrn(tm) Tutorial) [With CDROM]

by David W. Cohen and David Sklar

Book Overview

David Cohen's PRECALCULUS: A PROBLEMS-ORIENTED APPROACH, Sixth Edition, focuses on teaching mathematics by using a graphical perspective throughout to provide a visual understanding of college algebra... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0534402127
• ISBN13: 9780534402129
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Length: 1184 Pages
• Weight: 5.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 8.2" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Good Condition

Came in the mail quite quickly and is in very good condition. No tears, scratches or anything. just a few pencil marks on a few pages. Definitely not complaining considering how much money this saved me! (:

Excellent Text, all around

I learned pre-calculus from this textbook, and now I've been with a youth math program that uses the book for 3 years. This pre-calc book is excellent and is the first book that was of actual use to myself when learning new material. The examples in the text are clear and helpful, which makes a world of difference with the material. The problems are also well-designed and there are several different types of problems in this book. Although the price is high and the book is fairly heavy, it is worth it. If you are taking a pre-calc class and this is the required book, rejoice. If you are taking a pre-calc class and it is not and you have problems with pre-calc material, consider getting a 3rd edition of this book (3rd, not 4th, edition -- save on money).

excellent text

While I have not taught from this book and have not gone through the entire text, from what I've seen this is an excellent text. From the preface: "[E]xamples are consistently used to introduce, to explain and to motivate concepts...all of the initial exercise for each section are carefully correlated with the worked examples in that section." Based on my observations, this is true. Exercises following most sections are grouped into three categories: the first consist of these relatively routine problems closely correlated with the examples in the text of the section, and two more categories, each successively more difficult. There are many nice exercises that guide the student through a discovery process. The text is quite thorough and contains many topics not included in the bare-bones precalc text. For example, iteration of (the composition of) functions is presented in the section on composition. But the topic follows, with clear demarcation, that of basics of composition and hence can be omitted cleanly. Elegant results, some of which I had not been familiar with, such as Brahmagupta's theorem, are developed in some exercises. In the section on exponential growth and decay, the logistic growth model is developed in the exercises. But the text works fine even when omitting such challenge problems or those problems developing such optional topics. While the book does have calculator applications exercises, I agree with the author's philosophy, that while "The graphing utility is and invaluable tool for learning mathematics... the mathematics curriculum should drive the technology, not the other way around." I also use this book as a reference text. Apparently the author, Prof. Cohen, was the director of the precalculus courses at UCLA. His experience shows in this book. Update 5/4/2005: One reservation I have about the text is that the graphs are not always accurate. I feel strongly that graphs should always be presented as accurately as possible to reflect the true nature of the curves.

Clear and Detailed

I used this text as preparation for university calculus. Each chapter has a high level of rigor and clearly explains the mechanics of solving problems. The text ignores extensive discussion of applications, which is a good thing. References to applications in introductory math texts always strike me as ad hoc, distracting and useless. If you want to know why some particular analytic method is useful in the real world then you need to study up in the particular discipline. If you want a straight and detailed exposition of methods then this is the text. Much stronger than the Larson texts on college algebra/trigonometry.

The best math book I've seen--period.

This is THE math book for those preparing for the calculus or (like me) revisiting the subject. The book is clear, concise, and stands up well to heavy use. Additionally, the book has tons of examples; contains sections A & B for each chapter. The 'A' section is all that is necessary to continue to calculus, but 'B' will enhance learning if you choose to delve deeper. The study guide that accompanies the book is absolutely excellent--an average student like me can go through the whole book without an instructor if aided by the study guide.