College Algebra Graphing and Data Analysis

The book functions fine as a textbook and for self-teaching, mostly because of the well-thought-out sizes of each section, and because of the graded problems. Just when you want to stop learning and start practicing, the section ends and the problems start. If you are a bright student or mostly reviewing the material, just read the section and do the last, say, third, of the problem sets. The prefatory section on factoring, by the way, is one of the clearest explanations of it I have ever read. And the little hints about something useful later in calculus are great too.

The maths in the text seems directed to non-maths undergrads. A maths major should be able to easily follow far more indepth analysis. Various types of graphs are explained. More importantly, you get a feel for which might be more appropriate under different circumstances. The data analysis uses elementary statistics to reach conclusions about the data. The accompanying CD has videos of lessons. But is restricted to Microsoft Windows computers. Nothing for the Mac or linux/unix machines. The CD may be useful for those readers who prefer or need something like a classroom experience, as opposed to purely reading from a text. However, if you can do the latter, the CD is superfluous.