5 comments about The Heart of Mathematics: An invitation to effective thinking.

1. It's filled with a lot of information and it seems the author was trying to make it more current... It's a math book, so it's really not all that interesting.



2. Well I don't know.. after reading the reviews myself, it's clear to me that a certain "type" of person buys this book- one that is largely interested in math.
   
   I am not one of those people, and my review is unique because I am actually in the process of using this book for an introductory math course at the University of Texas at Austin. Let me tell you, I absolutely hate it. It is beyond frustrating- I find the explanations to be extremely vague and confusing, and often find myself looking up secondary sources just to try and figure out what in the world it's talking about. It's not just me, either- the average grade on the first exam was about 47/100, and we were given a HUGE curve. My teacher basically recites from the text verbatim, which is another indictment against this book. I literally cannot find the words to express how much I despise the Heart of Mathematics.
   
   If you are someone who finds themselves in a math course that is using this book, my advice is to switch out IMMEDIATELY. Everyone else- hey, if you like math, this is up your alley, judging by the reviews.



3. This review is for the Manipulative Kit. I was only interested in obtaining the "Heart of Mathematics" text to accompany the Teaching Company course, "The Joy of Thinking". I never even considered purchasing the Manipulative Kit, but a completely unused kit was included with the used book I purchased. I was shocked to learn that the Manipulative Kit consisted only of a plastic pencil pouch filled with pipe cleaners, drinking straws, 9-12 card board shapes, a set of dice, a pencil, a length of string attached to a metal cap that fits on the end of the pencil, and a "brochure-type" activity guide. I was very happy that I didn't pay the $29.95 list price for this bag of junk which I, like the person who sold me the text, never even used.



4. WOW what a great deal! This condsidering my son is in college and we paid $150.00 for his text their at school. I purchased this to give to his tutor at home here to help him over the phone get through this dreaded class and the book came to me in mint condition. Thanks!! I am very pleased and will consider buying all of his future text books online as well.
   
   Jane Ray



5. I bought this book after seeing it mentioned in a course from The Teaching Company. Originally intended as a gift for my math-loving daughter, I've been captivated. I was a mathphobe in school, but am finding this book has awakened an interest in the beauty and logic of math. Now I'm going to buy the Joy of Mathematics course with Berger and Starbird.

5 comments about Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail.

1. ...most of the book is devoted to fractions and related expressions such as ratios, proportions, decimals and percentages...the explanations offered for doing various mathematical operations on these expressions are no more lucid than those found in your average math textbook...and once you remove the "girly" sidebars and glitzy drawings, the presentation of these explanations really isn't much different either...I also found the presentation to be rather degrading to women -- implying that "girly" sidebars and drawings of pencils with flowers on them are somehow necessary to coax enthusiasm for math out of a woman...I suggest that for teaching math you should stick with a good basic math textbook -- most nowadays have supplemental workbooks and CD's as well as internet sites offering a variety of activities...supplement with diverse approaches like Jacobs' "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor"...and for additional tutoring in specific areas look at Edward Zaccaro's books...and if your looking for something to stimulate interest in math then I strongly recommend Sarah Flannery's "In Code" -- although a couple of grades above middle school math, it is a remarkable story that should be read by all young women...my qualifications: homeschooling two daughters.



2. My oldest daughter used to like math; she could tear through and do her homework in no time. But after a couple of bad math teachers (who favored massive doses of homework instead of spending time explaining and helping students understand) she simply burned out. She didn't understand anymore, had no reason to believe it applied to her life, and felt math was a punishment. I can help explain it each evening, but for a pre-teen i, hearing that math applies to her life as well only carried so much weight coming from her father.
   
   I heard about this book from a science blog i frequently read. I was skeptical but got a copy for her. On the surface it looks kinda "girlie girl" for her taste, but looking inside i saw there are good explanations that are more engaging to read. It's well written: not only does it explain without condescending or just inserting "So, like, omigod!" language here and there, but the book provides understandable examples tailored to concepts more appealing to a young girl. Obviously it doesn't explain everything (a book like that would be so thick it would scar away even Tolkein) but instead this book says just what it needs, and provides the encouraging support that textbooks lack.
   
   She rolled her eyes at first, but politely gave it a try. A few weeks later, i found evidence that she was still consulting the book, even jotting notes in the margins. After six months i still see it hovering near or on top of her stack of books, and fresh notes appear inside from time to time.
   
   I will not pretend it "cured" her and that her grades have skyrocketed, but she is far more willing to push through the piles of handouts. Math doesn't seem as scary to her as it once was. And, remembering how she felt when i was in grade school, i believe that confidence is a huge step for her in the long term.



3. I think I'm in love with Danica McKellar.
   
   As I type, my 13 year old is not only reading a book (something she is loathe to do), but it is a MATH book and she's giggling and saying "OH! Well, that makes sense!"
   
   7th grade math was HORRIBLE. Absolutely horrible with a horrible teacher. By the time school starts in 3 weeks, my daughter will be through "Math Doesn't Suck" AND "Kiss My Math". She will be CONFIDENT she can tackle 8th grade math. Her confidence has already been boosted.
   
   Where was Danica when *I* was in middle school? Oh. Right. I don't think she had been born yet!
   
   I am simply amazed at how my daughter is absorbed with Danica's lessons.



4. This book is wonderful! I'm using it to teach my daughter math at home. The tips are great! I really wish I had learned them years ago. We are using it in conjunction with a couple of math workbooks, because there are not enough problems in this book to get good repetition. The price makes it a steal. Also, the added stories/notes for girls, makes my daughter like reading her math book.



5. My daughter is starting high school this fall and I just didn't feel she was prepared to handle the math that was coming her way. I searched the internet for math games and instruction but couldn't find much for her age..(most of the games were geared for younger children). A friend let me borrow this book and my daughter and I just ran with this. We did a chapter a day together and they are short and simple enough to get through in about 10 or 15 minutes....and in that short period of daily time my daughter now knows how to add/subtract/multiply/divide fractions and decimals among other things. This is a girl that struggled with math since grade one and in under 15 minutes a day of "easy reading" she can do any problem I give her. The author should become a teacher!

5 comments about Intro Stats (2nd Edition) (DeVeaux/Velleman/Bock).

1. I am taking a course using "Active Stats" ISBN 0-321-28671-5 as the textbook. The textbook includes an appendix with solutions for the odd numbered homework problems only, but I wanted all of the solutions to help doublecheck my work as I went. This manual is advertised (by name and ISBN number) on the back "Active Stats" as the companion "Student Solutions Manual", so I ordered it. When I received it I was shocked to discover that all this Manual contains are the odd numbered solutions - which, as I mentioned above, are already in the textbook as Appendix B!!!
   
   I am writing a letter of complaint to Addison Wesley. The company should be ashamed for publishing the SAME EXACT material that appears as Appendix B Pps A-4 through A-43 in the textbook as a supplementary text- and for advertising it as such on the back of the textbook! Shame on Addison Wesley!!!



2. First.. when I thought of taking stats.. I thought of boredom, bunch of boring data to process
   
   but this book is not at all that. It s approach and explanation is pretty understandable & user friendly to use. After reading I began to know how to understand and process data/statistic.
   
   The problems for each chapter is not a lot! which I like. But there are reasonable amount of practice problems at least 30# per chapter, which I think is sensible and realistic for college students.



3. For a statistics text book, much less any text book, this one is an easy read. The CD-ROM that allows you to have interaction with the information is also helpful; however, it is difficult to always get help from the chapter info to answer the practice problems.



4. As a long-time professor of statistics with experience teaching introductory statistics to hundreds of students over many years, using many textbooks, I want to go on record that this is a wonderful book. The authors are hugely prepared, both as far as the statistical concepts and methods are concerned, but also with respect to instruction. They have learned what to do, and what not to do; they have made difficult concepts as simple as is they can (remembering Einstein's great principle: every explanation should be as simple as possible, but not simpler). All the key concepts and methods that really need to be covered are here, and the book is tied to the real world by repeated references to meaningful applied problems. For years I despaired that I would never find a book that had the great qualities I wanted to see in a book that introduces statistics, but this book comes as close as any I have seen. You won't go wrong using this book to learn statistics, nor to teach it!



5. I bought three brand new books with CDs from Amazon.com. The first CD was blank. The second CD was chipped and embedded in the book binding. The third CD was also blank. I mailed the books/CDs back to Amazon the same day so I know I wasn't sent the same blank CD.
   
   I gave up on Amazon and ordered the book through Barnes and Noble and picked it up today. The CD in this fourth book is also blank. I plan on returning it tomorrow.
   
   I have ordered a fifth book from Borders.
   
   There is an issue with the CDs in this edition.
   
   All the books I ordered are brand new. The book is great! The CD is the problem.

1 comments about Algebra and Trigonometry, 7th Edition.

1. Seller totally unresponsive to multiple follow ups. No help from Amazon either. Very disappointed.

5 comments about TI-89 Graphing Calculator For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science)).

1. This book (like all books I've read in the "For Dummies" series) is wonderful. The book assumes you've just purchased a TI-89 and starts off acquainting you with the basic info you need to operate the TI-89; then delves into subject-specific (trig, calculus, matrices, etc) chapters. Each chapter past the intro chapter stands alone, so you don't have to read the book cover-to-cover to take advantage of the TI-89. When a chapter refers to a step that is covered in another chapter, the text clearly explains where to quickly find the preliminary information.
   
   Another good point in the book is that when describing button press sequences on the calculator, the name of the key is called out, and not the name of the function it performs (e.g. when describing the use of the inverse tangent function, the book tells you to press "2nd T" (the names of the keys as they appear on buttons), instead of telling you to press tan^-1, and leaving it up to you to figure out which sequence of keystrokes will give this fn.



2. The TI-89 for Dummies book is an excellent supplement to the TI-89 owner's manual. The book is logically organizaed by subject area and is easy to follow. I highly recommend it if you're "new" to the TI-89.
   
   JML



3. The book was helpful explaining the basics and also gave me a little confidence to read the textbook.



4. This is a good book, I do wish it talked more about the other apps that come with or are available for free, and i would of liked to have seen more information on computer to calc interface, and programming. but all in all, the book assumes you know nothing about anything, and is good to get you started. The programing can come later(also, one might imagine that someone who is ready to program is not typically a "Dummy"). What is nice about this book though is that you dont have to read it front to back, you can jump around to find something that you are specifically looking for. the price at a book store or anywhere else is kinda high so amazon.com is probably the cheapest your gonna find it.



5. This book is of course much better than the horrible manual that comes w/the 89 (who were they kidding)...however, it could be MUCH better at showing how to imput expressions or equations. I am a math idiot...the TI89 has saved my butt (I just need to take Algebra even though I am a history major) but if you do not know EXACTLY how to enter say a radical then you are left hanging. The examples that are shown are good, but for much less complicated problems...not dealing w/indexes and exponents at the same time. Unless I've missed something. I've had to call TI tech support to teach me how to input various problems...and they were very helpful....now if they would only rewrite THEIR manual and not assume everyone is a math wizard.

5 comments about Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models.

1. Like all of Gelman's stuff, damn fine work. Nowhere near as advanced as his Bayesian pubs - and, hopefully, the next book will address HLM Bayesian models in a rigorous manner - it's where the world is moving.



2. Andrew Gelman has written an excellent book about regression models, with examples solved in the R language. He provides enlightning views of even complex subjects, such as mixed-effects models. A reader not familiar with R, should probably acquire some knowledge of R before he/she can fully benefit from the book, but this in itself is a worthwhile investment. (R is freely available; see [...]). Although it is an introductory book, the author manages to convey valuable new insights to more advanced readers. This is a book that after you read it once you will pick up time and again to enjoy the presentation of the topics and to benefit your own work. Highly recommended, in particular to those getting started with R (or Splus for that matter).



3. A great book for addressing how to work with data on multiple levels. It is both accessible and useful!



4. This book is full of examples and very well written, contains everything one needs for deep insight into multi level analysis



5. Andrew Gelman is a top researcher in Bayesian statistics as well as an excellent writer. He has written an excellent text on Bayesian data analysis that uses the Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for dealing with hierarchical linear models. This book starts out on an introductory level covering a wide variety of statistical modeling problems including logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression, generalized linear models and causal inference. The MCMC methods are taught using BUGS and R. This book is not exclusively Bayesian as both likelihood and Bayesian procedures are presented. The topics are general but the emphasis is on social science applications. It is very comprehensive and has received enthusiastic reviews from well known statisticians including Dick Deveaux, Brad Carlin and Jeff Gill. Jeff's review is here on amazon. Jeff is a colleague of mine and he has written one of the finest introductory texts on Bayesian methods including the hierarchical models. His text is now out in its second edition. Jeff also wrote his book with the social scientists in mind.
   
   Jeff's review has been the most looked at and voted the most helpful on this site. As this topic is a specialty area for him more than it is for me, I recommend that if you are interested in the material in this book that his review is very much worth reading.

5 comments about Abstract Algebra.

1. This book is the best to understand hard concepts of abstract algebra. The exposition is excellent and it is easy to find anything you need.



2. Compare this book to certain other ones (like Lang's Algebra, Hungerford's Algebra, etc.) and you'll agree, this one is way better. Most other books are too terse to study from, especially if you're studying on you own. But this one seems to cover the material pretty well, without falling into that trap.



3. This text will freak you out at first if you have never done proofs, or linear algebra at a rigorous level. My professor said that linear algebra and mathematical maturity are definitively things to possess before attempting to deal with this text, and not having those two things was a disadvantage.
   
   However, if you're on your own (as I have been in my study of math), I can recommend some great preparatory books.
   
   I am working on some analysis and algebra and the following have helped me:
   
   Modern Algebra and Trigonometry - Moore (may be out of print - great book though)
   
   Elementary Real and Complex Analysis - Shilov (calculus, basic measure)
   
   Linear Algebra - Shilov
   
   those three texts should get you to a point of mathematical independence where you may conquer dummit.



4. D+F tries to straddle the line between being a book for advanced undergraduates and a book for graduate students and does a decent job. It is fairly readable, with many excellent exercises and lots of examples. The book also covers all the material in the standard graduate algebra sequence. The section on group theory is particularly good.
   
   I think the biggest problem with D+F is that it is bland. The exposition isn't a joy to read and full of motivation like that of Halmos, Stillwell, or Eisenbud and it isn't full of deep insights like that of MacLane, Lang, or Artin. In addition Category Theory is pushed off to an appendix at the end of the book rather than integrated through the text. Finally the book is expensive and the binding is terrible.
   
   If you want to learn algebra I would recommend purchasing some of these cheaper more focused texts since almost everything in D+F is treated better elsewhere:
   
   Basic Algebra - Mac Lane + Birkhoff - Algebra 3rd Edition
   Galois Theory: Stillwell - Elements of Algebra, Artin - Galois Theory
   Commutative Algebra: Eisenbud - Commutative Algebra With a View Towards Algebraic Geometry
   Homological Algebra: Weibel - An Introduction to Homological Algebra
   
   If on the other hand you are already fairly comfortable with algebra and are looking for a one volume reference I would just buy Lang. It is less than half the price, more advanced, and has more material.



5. Dummit and Foote contains just about everything an undergraduate ought to know about abstract algebra. In addition, it is written in a more user-friendly, down-to-earth fashion than, say, Lang's Algebra is.
   
   The pro's have been discussed in other reviews and include: clear development of group, ring, and field theory; tons of exercises at the end of every chapter; numerous examples scattered around the text; sylow theorems (for group theory, imo, it's important, and not every algebra book does sylow stuff!); great introduction to exact sequences (useful if the reader is going into algebraic topology anytime soon. ugh!); galois theory is pretty clearly laid out; and, the third section of the book has some neat topics the reader can check out (which are, I think, commutative algebra, homological algebra, and representation theory introductions, as well as a small section on category theory at the very end).
   
   The con's of D+F are the price (it's very expensive!), the binding (it's horrible!), and some of the sections are much harder than others and D+F doesn't do as well a job at explaining them as in many of the other sections (the tensors section sticks out in my head, and they wait something like 100 pages to explain "tricks" for figuring out the structure of finite groups after explaining some of the sylow stuff (eg., they wait to tell the reader about how to "pin small groups against one-another" and to make use of the sylow n! trick). Also, D+F introduce modules before vector spaces which I have mixed feelings about --- as a student who's already taken an algebra class, I love the "flow" of the lessons; as a student who remembers what it was like to try to imagine what modules "looked like", it makes me cringe to think that they didn't introduce vector spaces first.
   
   Overall, wonderful book. One of my favorites of all time. DEFINITELY have it, and if you study from it, you may feel more comfortable supplimenting it with Herstein's Algebra, Artin's Algebra (which are just as hard) or Fraleigh's Abstract Algebra, Gallian's Abstract Algebra, or Rotman's Abstract Algebra (which are much, much easier).

3 comments about Elementary Geometry For College Students.

1. Entering geometry for the first time ever can be an almost initimidating venture, especially for the first time geometry student. After conquering other mathematical courses successfully (like algebra and statistics), I presumed entering "Elementary Geometry for College Students," based on being given exceptional required texts from previous courses, would be a breeze. Oh how wrong I was!

   "Elementary Geometry for College Students," by Daniel C. Alexander (of Parkland College) and Geralyn M. Koeberlein (of Mahomet-Seymour High School), has taught me nothing more than NOT to trust a textbook written by a couple of hack authors from unknown schools with a blatant disregard for meticulously explaining important vital and "elementary" steps as to how to arrive to certain statements, reasoning, deducing, measurements, and so much more NEEDED in successfully acheving full reign over geometry. For example, the origins of postulates and proofing are never explored, but slammed in your face, convoluting both topics along with breaking down statements from deducing a particular shape, its angles and measurements. The book's attempts at explaining triangles, convex polygons, congruent triangles, and properties of parallelograms are all but slandered together (with steps in basic algebraic mathematical equations arrogantly skipped over and presumed upon to you) without any form of thorough reason or explained steps bothered in explaining. Important theorems are disarrayed throughout with quick-step problem examples without helpful or detailed reasoning as to how the answer was ever achieved.

   The authors have obviously assumed a college student has had some form of pre-geometry course prepping, and expect both instructor and student to know the advanced fundamentals without considering the beginner geometry student at all (just from judging by example and "solutions" given in each section). As a result, students will fail miserably, along with angering frustration, and discontent wonderment over what purpose geometry may ever serve toward a real-life career. Perhaps trying "Geometry for Dummies" by the infamous IDG publishing company would be a much suitable levelage to this otherwise detrimental book attempting to teach an important equation to the universe of mathematics.

   By far, this textbook is the worst and most horrible book in teaching the subject of geometry!!

   To professors searching a geometry book for your students: PLEASE avoid this book at all costs! You and your students don't need a textbook that presumes you know it all before diving into shapes, proofing, deducing, theorums, solids, and so forth. Most surely, there are much more superior books to this wretched and horrid title worthy of its decommissioning.




2. Who am I to say this? I'm a 35-year-old college student with a 3.5 GPA, studying for a B.A. in English and Graphic Design in the Chicagoland area. I'm not that great in math but I with studying, good teachers and decent text books, I've passed all my math classes so far with As and Bs. I'm not the smartest person in the world but I am no dummy. Elementary Plane Geometry was required but I thought it might be interesting and maybe fun as I had NEVER taken a Geometry class before.
   
   This book was completely useless. In fact, I ONLY used it to do the problems assigned to me by the teacher. I did not use this book to study nor as a reference guide. I used it as a coaster and a door stop a few times. My fellow students HATED it as well.
   
   *There were NO examples of how to do the homework assignments.
   
   *This book did not give you steps on how to solve problems.
   
   *This book did not explain why an answer was what it was.
   
   Opening up this book, to me, was like telling a 5-year old to go build a rocket and speak Chinese.
   
   Instead of using this book, I barely passed the class by going every week to the tutors at school's study center (who, by the way, did not understand the "instructions" in this book either and had to read the chapters all the way through so they could teach me how the authors did the problems), my husband who is a mechanical engineer (who also hated this book and thought it was the worst math book he's ever seen) struggled through the text book with me, *and* I checked Geometry for Dummies out of the local library which helped a little.
   
   If you are a school administration looking into using this book, I beg you to please not.
   
   If you are a student that has been assigned this book, you should start lining up additional help now.



3. The instructions in this book are vague at best. The authors appear to be rushing the student through the fundamentals of Geometry without ever explaining how things work. The homework sections are a JOKE! The authors have given "solutions" to selct problems in the book, but do not explain how those answers are achieved. The book gives basics and ideas in the text then provides exercises with answers to some of the exercises. It would be much more helpful if they chose some of the problems to show a solution. Telling the student that the angle is 35 degrees does absolutely no good if the book does not tell the student WHY it is 35 degrees. If you have a great teacher who is willing to spend some time explaining in detail and going over the exercises in detail you may be o.k. with this book. If your teacher does not do these things then this book will hurt you more than it helps. If I could give it no stars I would have.

5 comments about A First Course in Differential Equations.

1. the picture for this ad didn't match the cover of the book so i took a chance in buying it, because the isbn numbers matched. the book was correct and the time and condition in which it was recieved was great



2. First off, this book adequately teaches you differential equations. It's clear and concise - all except for one thing. WHERE ARE THE EXPLANATIONS!? Each section just jumps into examples without first explaining important concepts. I tried to find out exactly what a Laplace transform was, but all the book told me was that it was similar to a derivative, they both transform one function into another type of funciton. YEAH, THANKS.
   
   I know how to do everything, I just don't know exactly WHAT I'm doing.



3. I find the book very helpful. It is worth the $25 or so. I like a lot of examples.



4. I'm not one to say much so I'll keep this kind of short. It always helps to have another point of view and explanation other than those offered in the classroom, whether one struggles with this material or not. This book was definitely worth purchasing.



5. I have to say I'm shocked by some of the negative reviews here. Granted, I'm a math major, but I found this book to be relatively unintimdating and refreshingly lucid in its presentation of points. I was able to follow every single derivation that was given in the sections we covered. Not only this but due to the nature of the presentation, I was able to anticipate a result or two from one section to the next, which really inspired some confidence. :)
   
   The wide margins left plenty of room for the annotations I made, and unless you're an uber-genius who gets everything immediately, you will definitely need to make some annotations.
   
   Another excellent aspect of this book is that it serves as a natural bridge from the overly graphical, mickey-mouse presentations given in standard calculus texts to the more terse books in higher math. The graphics are sparse compared to a modern calculus text, but they are informative and maximize understanding.
   
   I think this book is indispensable in the pursuit of the "ability to read a math book" skill which many majors require.

5 comments about Statistics: Concepts and Controversies.

1. I first came across the fourth edition of this book, and immediately fell in love with both the book and the subject matter. When I pursued graduate study, I picked up a copy of the fifth edition of the book, and routinely gave statistical advice based on its contents to eager recipients. While in grad school, I lent my copy of the fifth edition to a friend struggling to understand statistical concepts even at a rudimentary level (as did most of the students in the program) and she never gave it back- that's how good it was (she later told me that after leaving her hands, it quickly found its way to several other students' hands).
   
   The book's success rests solely on two important things- a clear, concise, and sometimes witty presentation of statistical basics, and a minimum of mathematical computation, formulae and Greek letters. This book teaches statistical conepts, their appropriate use, their limitations and most importantly, their abuse. Saying that the text is 'statistics lite' is disrespectful, but saying that the text helps to promote the use of thinking and reasoning when faced with statistics is giving it high praise.
   
   While most books on the market emphasize often mindless mathematical computation and the manipulation of arcane formulae, this book eschews that and focuses solely on making sense of statistics, principally those stats that others have generated. Make no mistake: this is not a text for number crunchers, those looking to generate statistics (for this, consult Moore's excellent textbook, Introduction to the Practice of Statistics). The author made a successful attempt to introduce statistical concepts and the thinking and reasoning needed to use them appropriately long before the push to emphasize these aspects (spearheaded by the American Statistical Association) in the teaching of statistics became the rage.
   
   The text had absolutely no faults. Learning from it was painless and fun. After reading it, I kinda sorta considered pursuing advanced training in statistics, but then backed off after seeing all of the Greek involved.
   
   After reading and using this book, students will finally feel comfortable around means and standard deviations, p-values and null hypotheses. The only other textbook coming close to it is Purves and Pisani's Statistics (now likely in its fourth or fifth edition). A more mathematically rigorous book (one requiring numerical calculations) which also aims to impart a fair degree of comfort around statistics and instill some statistical literacy is Utts and Heckard's Mind on Statistics. In passing, I swear by the book, Statistics- A Spectator Sport, which makes for a good reference on key concepts.
   
   I owe Professor Moore a great debt of gratitude for this book, as it opened my eyes to a new world, demystifying a previously intimidating body of knowledge, and helping me immensely to think and to reason through research problems involving a statistical component. One thing is certain: the next copy I purchase is never leaving my bookshelf, as it is too good to give away.



2. Want to be statistics savvy? Don't want or can't handle the math in most texts? Then I recommend this book. Well written for the lay person, with careful thought given to progressive learning of stats concepts.
   
   An excellent choice for someone who wants to be able to critically understand social statistics. The exercises and review sections are fun - not often the case in this area of study.



3. I used this text for a university general education requirement. Unfortunately, I had already learned how to read graphs in grade school. The chi-squared test introduced almost last in the text is taught the during the first week in any genetics course. This is a book not worthy to be purchased and I hope college professors avoid this text.



4. The chapters are short, which was a wise decision to allow for students to be able to learn the subject, while not boring them to death.



5. This was the first of many well written introductory texts by David Moore. It is now in its fourth edition and in paperback form it is very reasonably priced. Moore emphasizes the concepts and not the computational aspects and mathematics. This helps undergraduate students in any discipline to become statistically literate. Moore is both a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University and an educator. He has also served as President of the American Statistical Association. Known for his clear writing style, he has led the way in training statistics to the masses. This book was his first attempt (very successful) and it has been followed by many others including the most recent text which takes an activity-based approach to teaching.
   Among the concepts presented are: (1) sampling and randomization, (2) why experiment and what designs to use, (3) measurement accuracy, (4) understanding relationships (contingency tables, scatterplots, correlation and regression), (5)index numbers (CPI), (6) the role of government statistics, (7) understanding changes over time, (8) probability, (9) probability through simulation and (10) inference including confidence intervals for means and proportions. The text includes many useful exercises which enhance understanding.
   
   Also many nice cartoons are included for humor and enhancing explanations. One cartoon shows a team with seven basketball players of which 6 a short and one is very tall. In the caption the publicists asks the coach "Should we scare the opposition by announcing our mean height or lull them by announcing our median height?" A clear example where the one tall person distorts the picture giving a high value for the mean that does not represent the group while on the other hand the median gives a good representation of the central height for the group but hides the fact that they have a very tall player.
   
   The book is great for beginners but is also a good reference book for anyone. It is stimulating and thought provoking.