Head First Algebra: A Learner's Guide to Algebra I

This book is good refresher for those who been away from school for many years. It give good examples throughout the book to help you undertstand key formulas. It makes you use papaer and pencil without the use of a calculator which in the long run is a blessing. I've used this book along with a college textbook and it has allowed me the chance to succeed in class. This book really is a A+++.

Any struggling through a college algebra class needs HEAD FIRST ALGEBRA, which takes advantage of the latest brain research to design a user-friendly guide packed with real-world applications. From stories to diagrams and easy charts, this is actually an engaging method of learning, not a challenge. High school to college-level libraries will find it a top pick.

It's been a while since I've taken Math classes, so I needed a refresher. I've always been more keen on English than Math, so I wanted a book that offered context, not just rules. After going through several, I can confidently recommend this book. I wish this book existed when I started learning Algebra for the first time, as it really helps you understand the benefit of Algebra, not just how to solve endless equations. As with all heads up books (I've read several of their programming books), it presents a complex topic in a light and visual way. It's really worth getting.

'Head First Algebra: A Learner's Guide to Algebra I' is quite simply the best book in the line of Head First publications for the following reasons: 1. The writing is outstanding, examples are relative and easy to follow and there are plenty of different ways to present the data within. 2. The Head First line of books are targeted towards individuals that want to be entertained while learning. With the target audience being high school students, this is the exact group that will be doing algebra and wanting to be entertained. 3. Content is logically broken up over 500+ pages and 11 chapters. The authors really got it right with showing the different facets of algebra I in the right order and way. If you are a student learning algebra you owe it to yourself to pick up this book. I loved math when I was a student and would have loved to have learned it this way. ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It was rather hard for me to review this book, since algebra is the basis for studies in more complex branches of mathematics, and once you know it, it is rather like describing how it is that you know how to walk. However, this does seem to be an excellent book that starts at the beginning and even before. If you have problems with basic mathematics the book has two appendices that talk about "what's left over" including the graphing calculators that were certainly not part of my algebra education back in the 1970's but are vital to learning the subject now. The other appendix is all about pre-algebra mathematics, starting with the basic addition and subtraction of integers. Since all students don't need this kind of brush-up, it is left as an extra feature. Word problems are usually what strikes fear into students of algebra. This book helps a great deal with that since the whole book is basically about solving "word problems". The last chapter is explicitly devoted to it and is entitled "real world algebra". This book has you solving algebra problems and learning its principles without getting what I like to call math stage fright by using the same principles that work so well in the other "head first" books. There are frequent puzzles, Q & A sessions, and plenty of pictorial representations of the problems that are being solved. Even if you get this book, a good Schaum's outline is always a good cheap source of extra problems even if they can come up short on explanation. I highly Schaum's Outline of Intermediate Algebrarecommend for that purpose. In addition, it also has additional explanations of some of the same material that is in this book so that you have some reinforcement in the realm of explanation just in case you need it. The following is the table of contents of the book, since it is currently missing from the product description. Chapter 1. what is algebra? Chapter 2. 2 (more) complicated equations Chapter 3. rules for numeric operations Chapter 4. exponent operations Chapter 5. graphing Chapter 6. inequalities Chapter 7. systems of equations Chapter 8. expanding binomials & factoring Chapter 9. quadratic equations Chapter 10. functions Chapter 11. real-world algebra Appendix A. leftovers Section A.1. #1 Negative Exponents Section A.2. Working with negative exponents Section A.3. Negative exponents also give you flexibility Section A.4. #2 Table of values for graphing Section A.5. #3 Absolute value equations Section A.6. #4 Calculators Section A.7. #5 More practice, especially for factoring Appendix B. pre-Algebra review Section B.1. Algebra starts with numbers Section B.2. How do you work with negative numbers? Section B.3. Addition and subtraction of integers Section B.4. Working with mixed integers Section B.5. Multiplication and division of integers Section B.6. The rules for integer signs - multiplication and division Section B.7. Absolute Value Section B.8. Number sets - all together Secti