A thorough and easy-to-follow textbook suitable for both beginning algebra students and those looking to recall old lessons.
An introductory algebra textbook also serves as a refresher for those who last studied the subject many years ago.
In this math book, Thatte (SAT/PSAT Math: A Systematic Approach, 2011, etc.) addresses the fundamentals of algebra, from solving for x to working with complex numbers. The volume opens with a review of the arithmetic basics that underpin all algebraic equations, then proceeds through the standard elements of algebra, with step-by-step equations demonstrating the principles involved in each process. Although the individual chapters can be studied in any order, within them Thatte presents concepts in sequence, moving from simple applications to more complex ones over the course of each section, and an author’s note encourages readers to follow the progression of the text. Topics addressed include polynomial equations, graphing, inequalities, and sequences. Each subsection includes several sample problems and solutions, with each step of the process illustrated and explained. In addition to the examples solved in detail for demonstration purposes, each chapter also features dozens of practice problems, with complete solutions provided at the end of the book. The work’s subject matter is necessarily dry, but Thatte demonstrates a genuine interest in teaching math to nonspecialists and brings an animated voice to the narrative portions: “Notice that the x2 term has no other term to pair up with. It stands alone. There’s no need to get emotional about it. Trust me, x2 will be just fine!” While the book is clearly not intended for recreational reading, it does effectively communicate with its target audience. The work provides an accurate and straightforward approach to fundamental elements of math, with clear explanations, examples that provide sufficient practice without becoming repetitive, and the scaffolding necessary to allow the reader to supplement classwork or engage in self-directed learning. The content is comprehensive, including all the elements generally taught in an introductory algebra class, and sufficient to help readers understand the aspects of higher math they are most likely to encounter.
A thorough and easy-to-follow textbook suitable for both beginning algebra students and those looking to recall old lessons.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5399-6946-4
Page Count: 180
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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