Algebra and Trigonometry

This textbook is super helpful. It was worth the buy, not only for math class but for reviews of material i have no seen for a while now. Great examples and I love my buy.

I am 55 years old and promised myself that when I became financially able I would relearn Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Calculus I, II,III & IV and ODE skills from start to finish. I am now finished with Sullivan's book I have found the book easy to read and understand. The presenation of the material is well thought out and the abundance of practice problems invaluable. If you are serious about math then this is a great book. A retired hedge fund manager.

1)Michael Sullivan (Sr.) is one of the four or five best writersof math textbooks on today's scene. If you can find a textbook written by him that fits whatever current math course you are inbuy the book sight unseen. You will be more than happy that youdid. 2)As far as this book is concerned, I used it from chapter 1 to the end (every section of every chapter) and did every problem inthe book. I did not have an instructor and I was not enrolled in a course. I used the book to brush up for calculus after being out of school for 20 years.3)This book is great for a course in college algebra, trigonometry, or precalculus. It serves all three purposes. I know this because after I finished the text and began studyingcalculus, on my own, I was really able to appreciate how wellSullivan's book prepared me for calculus.4)The explanations of each concept are clear, not more rigorousthan is appropriate for a student at the level of the textbook, but certainly not dumbed down. 5)The problems and questions are well written, comprehensive, andmost importantly, instructive. I found that the best question Icould ask myself about every problem in the book was "now what isSullivan trying to get me to see by doing this problem or answering this question". I mention this because this is what Sullivan is really good at; he doesn't spoon feed you. 6)Look, we all want essentially the same things from a textbook.We want clearly written, well illustrated worked out problemsthat allow us to grasp the concept in question so that we can useit to solve problems and answer conceptual questions. With Sullivan, you get this in great measure.This is a wonderful textbook for both sudents and teachers. It isa great book to learn from and a great book to learn to teach from.

One feature I really liked about this book was the "Now work on Problem #..." items, which give you a specific exercise to work on in that section to make sure you understand the concept just covered. Also, the author has highlighted certain exercise problems for a suggested practice test. These are great if you already know some of the material you can just breeze through these until you get stuck on something. The paperback solutions manual was also excellent, I used it a lot since I was teaching myself.

The softcover version of this book, ISBN 0-13-081021-5, is the "Student Solutions Manual." This is NOT a softcover version of the hardcover book. It's an awesome 697 pages of detailed solutions, not just the answers, to the odd numbered problems from the hardcover book. I definitely recommend this book.