1 comments about Geometria Plana Y Del Espacio Y Trigonometria.

1. I Like this book because it does explain the fundamentals of Geometry in Spanish. So if your are fluent in Spanish this book will help you understand math better.

2 comments about Algebraic Curves and Riemann Surfaces (Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Vol 5) (Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Vol 5).

1. If you want to learn the basic properties of compact Riemann surfaces this is the book to read. If you want to know the "motivations" of modern Algebraic geometry this is again a book to read.
   
   First of all the pace and the style are very casual. You really don't feel overwhelm by a mountain of definitions. The author always favor simplicity and concreteness instead of abstractions and generality. This is really a book that I should have read before taking a class on Schemes. For exemple in the context of Riemann surfaces an "very ample divisor" is simply a linear system without fixed base point that gives rise to an holomorphic embedding. This definition (at least for me) is much much more satisfactory and illuminating than the definition of a very ample sheaf that you can find in Hartshorne (even though his definition is much more general).
   
   There is a very nice chapter on meromorphic differentials which explains how those object can be used to define line integral on any riemann surface. Topics like divisors, Riemann-Roch and curves are treated with a lot of depth. There are not a lot of pictures but having pictures supported by an unclear text is quite useless. Here the writing is so clear (not to say flawless) that on the first reading you really get the idea of what's going on.
   There are very few mistakes in this book which is another reason why I like it. I'm really pissed off by those mathematicians
   that are rushing to publish their books crowded by mistakes.
   But don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against mathematicians that are writing books (this is a learning experience) but don't feel force to publish them unless they are very polished and "innovative".
   
   Finally the last chapters treat of Abel's theorem ( which tells us exactly when a divisor is principal), Sheaves, Cech cohomologies and line bundles. Again the exposition is very well
   motivated with a good supply of interesting exemples.
   
   This is the best book that I read on subject and honestly if professor Miranda is writing another book related to my field of research you can be sure that I will have it my collection.
   
   Hugo Chapdelaine,
   McGill



2. This book gives a very readable account of Riemann Surfaces-- a good course in Complex Analysis is all that's required as a prereq. The proofs are very clear, the material is presented beautifully, and (most of) the exercises are fairly straight forward and supplement the book very well. The notion of divisors, proof of the Riemann Roch theorem and Abel's theorem are explained very nicely. It serves as the perfect transition into more advanced books in algebraic geometry and on complex manifolds.

3 comments about Advanced Euclidean Geometry.

1. As a high-school geometry teacher, I have often wished for a book like this. Sadly, the typical one-year geometry course comes to an end just as students are within reach of some truly beautiful and intriguing theorems. Dr. Posamentier's book begins where most high-school geometry textbooks end, and presents many wonderful results that lie just beyond their purview: the nine-
   point circle; the golden rectangle; the theorems of Ceva, Menelaus, Ptolemy, Pascal, Desargues, and Brianchon; excircles and incircles; cyclic quadrilaterals; and much more. This book provides a rich geometric feast.

   There are several books that cover much of the same ground that Dr. Posamentier surveys: GEOMETRY REVISITED, by Coxeter and Greitzer, and EPISODES IN NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY, by Honsberger, are two of the best. What makes Dr. Posamentier's book stand out is its usefulness as a textbook. Theorems are fully proved, and arranged in a logically coherent sequence. (The book is Euclidean in format as well as in subject matter.)

   The book is thoughtfully designed. The pages are large, the type is easy to read, the diagrams are clear, and the book lies flat when opened.

   EVERY HIGH-SCHOOL GEOMETRY TEACHER SHOULD HAVE THIS BOOK. It's a rich source of supplementary material for regular sections, and an ideal textbook for the second semester of an honors-level class, or for a student who wants to pursue the study of geometry on an independent-study basis.

   I know that I'll be turning to this book again and again next year, and for as long as I teach geometry. In fact, I plan to buy another copy so that I'll have one at home and one in my classroom.

   Bravo, Dr. Posamentier, and thank you!




2. What an invaluable supplemental resource to have at my side while teaching a course in College Geometry! Although the class text is excellent (Geometry for College Students, by Isaacs), having this as a back-up made all the difference. The explanations are detailed and pitched at a level that students can easily follow, and the (Geometer's Sketchpad) diagrams show all the required information. Having the CD saved me from recreating the diagrams myself for class use. I highly recommend this book to anyone teaching high school or college geometry, or anyone who just wants to advance their knowledge of Euclidean and synthetic geometry.



3. I purchased this book that came with "Geometry Sketchpad" CD except CD contained no program file, only help files.
   
   Just a scam to purchase program?
   
   Instructions and program purchase made unclear on website and within book itself.

2 comments about Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry.

1. This book about euclidean and non-euclidean geometry is great! A must for researh or math class!



2. This is so rigorous it is only for the advanced mathematician. I was looking for something much more accessible. I'll have to keep looking.

1 comments about Geometry - Plane, Solid & Analytic Problem Solver (Problem Solvers).

1. A great book loaded with proofs for geometry (SAS, CPCTC, etc) and geometic problems (Pythagorean Therom).

3 comments about Addison Wesley Secondary Math: Focus on Geometry : An Integrated Approach.

1. I just bought this book used which arrived in excellent condition. This book gives many boxed-in definitions which clearly stand out on each page. Explanations were kept concise and there are many coinciding pictures. After each explanation or definition, there are "Try It" problems for reinforced learning. This is a very "active" book; paper, pencil, compass, and straightedge are needed to read it. This book would be appropriate for a beginning geometry student.



2. My school just implemented these books last year as part of a 4-year math textbook replacement cycle. I was part of the first class to go through the books and I believe them to be extremely effective. I learned the material well, and have excelled in class, and in geometry level math league competitions, due to that. I have looked at the old geometry books and I think that these are a great alternative. They cover proofs a bit less than our old books, but I feel I learned the material enough to succeed in future courses. I am now enrolled in a course based on the Advanced Algebra book from the same series, and I am quite satisfied with the curriculum. They move fast enough for people who catch on quickly, but they also have enough opportunity for practice, with the teacher's materials, for those who don't. All in all, I have liked all encounters i have had with these books (except the bits of late-night studying here and there because of math meets!).



3. Perhaps the most fascinating feature of this book is the order in which topics are presented. Students flit all the way through triangles, angles and intersecting lines before they learn that theorems and postulates have some importance. They go through half of the book (and presumably through half of the school year) before they encounter the concept of a mathematical proof. In fact, they already have been required to learn some proofs, but the book hasn't told them that this is what they are doing.

2 comments about Precalculus: Functions and Graphs, Fifth Edition.

1. The topics in this text have enough breadth to cover
   Functions (algebraic, transcendentals, etc) and their Graphs.

   One typical feature that is extremely disturbing is the fact that the authors decided to throw in mathematical terms without
   defining them first. For instance, as early as Chapter 1.2,
   the term "lim f(x) as x approaches ***" is introduced so that
   the graphical concept "continuity" can be taught.
   There is much more to
   limits than just "plotting the graph, seeing where the curve goes". The purpose of PreCalc as suggested by its name is to prepare the students to take Calculus. And if we do not want to
   cover some concepts correctly (algebraically and graphically - the motto of this text!) but only to do it in a touchy-feely sense, then please do NOT cover it in PreCalc. Do it in Calculus!

   The only reason I ever used this is because someone else chose it for our multiple sections course!




2. My son is using this textbook at school in a 10th grade pre-calculus course. As a microwave antenna engineer I take a strong interest in my son's science and maths education, and try to help with supplementary material where I think it is needed. When I read the first sentence in the book, which states that "a real number is any number that can be written as a decimal", my heart sank. The language usage is as poor as the accuracy of the statement, and it did not bode well for what the rest of the book may offer. It then proceeds to explain that the set of real numbers contains several important subsets, and calls out the natural numbers, whole numbers and the integers out in 3 clearly separated paragraphs. But this is followed by a discussion on the use of brackets, before the rational numbers and later, the irrational numbers are described - you have to read the text carefully before it is clear that these are two more subsets of the real numbers. Clearly marked paragraphs for these subsets would have worked better.
   
   While skimming though the rest of the textbook, my initial misgivings were confirmed by the general lack of rigour, and the over-emphasis on terms, formulas and nomenclature without consistently explaining and/or proving how these are derived. A good example of this is the formulas given in Chapter 3, pp. 334-341 for annuities and mortgages without any proof or explanation. These are presented as examples of exponential functions, but in doing so the mathematics is reduced to a subject more akin to the learning of facts rather than learning the art of deduction. It would have been better to present the section on finance after the section on geometric series, since you need that to explain the formulas. Indeed, the book admits to this "loose end" in Chapter 9, where it belatedly derives one of these formulas, i.e. the future value of an annuity, p. 743.
   
   The text is well illustrated, with attractive and colourful tables, graphs and pictures. But the content should be better organized with more attention to rigour, thus I would not recommend this book.

1 comments about SuperVisions: Impossible Optical Illusions (Supervisions).

1. This book will keep my kids busy for hours. I needed the rest and they needed the fun.

No comments about Geometry.

No comments about Student's Solutions Manual to accompany Calculus, Single Variable: Early Transcendental Functions.