Trigonometry

Book arrived earlier than expected and is as advertised. It has answers to the odd as well as the even numbered problems.

I am very surprised by the other reviews of this book. I have been teaching myself trigonometry with this book as a text for an online class. The concepts are presented in a way that makes sense and there are many different approaches given to derive the answer. Learning trigonometry has been an enjoyable experience for me with this book and the online MathLab that can be purchased to accompany it. The book itself does not come with the correct way to work the problems in case you get them incorrect, although the correct answer for the odd numbered problems are given. Because of this, you have to figure out for yourself what you are doing wrong, but if you look at it positively, this can help to solidify what you are learning. Another note: There are not many sample problems although the book does come with a disk and perhaps it contains more. The book features an alegebra review section, are you prepared problems, problems to try as you are learning, common problem warnings, step-by-step problem examples, and the skill building and applications & extensions sections. There is a notation whenever you encounter information necessary for calculus so that you can be better prepared in case you plan, as I do, to continue in sequence. There are also instructions given for how to calculate the problems, when applicable, on the calculator.

The college where I teach recently dropped a two-course sequence in precalculus in favor of a one-semester course. This of course requires the re-examination of the text to be used for precalculus and it is within that context that I examined this book. I found it an excellent choice for a textbook for a one-semester class in precalculus. It begins with a quick review of graphs and functions, but then immediately goes to trigonometric functions. The subsequent chapters are: *) Analytic trigonometry *) Applications of trigonometric functions *) Polar coordinates; vectors *) Analytic geometry *) Exponential and logarithmic functions The coverage of these topics is thorough and plenty of exercises with solutions are included. I was also impressed by the use of coloration to catch and direct your attention through the explanations. This is a technique that is sometimes neglected in the development of mathematics texts. I will be recommending this book to the department chair for the text of choice for precalculus.