5 comments about Quantitative Methods for Business (with Crystal Ball Pro 2000 v7.1, CD-ROM, and InfoTrac ).

1. I have used this textbook for an upper level math class and although the book was hard to follow, I really feel that it did present the information in a well laid out format. Some of the words were hard to grasp, but as for the problems in the back, I found them very useful. I hope anyone out there will in fact give this book a chance.



2. IT's really oky book. But it took a little more time to get it ghrough me. There are few scratches on the book when i recd. it. The parcel is oky.
   Thanks anyway,



3. This book is written in unnecessarily complicated language and does not present information in a way that is easily understood. I teach graduate courses in quantitative methods and I made the mistake of ordering this book for one of my courses without reading it first. It was a disaster!
   
   Unless you are getting a doctorate and need to know lots of complicated formulas without adequate explanations, DO NOT buy this book.



4. I am a professor and have used this book for several years in my undergraduate quantitative methods course. The book is quite clear and easy to teach from. I have had very few complaints about it from my students. The book covers the important quantitative methods that an undergraduate business student should know, and uses only the mathematics necessary to present these methods properly. The material in each chapter is correctly presented as useful for managerial decision making. Decision making is the key, and it is ultimately the purpose for businesses to use quantitative methods. The book makes this important point very clear in most chapters. Typically, the book presents one main business problem per chapter, then builds on that problem, showing how to develop the problem solution as the chapter progresses. Once solved, other similar type problems are addressed in some chapters. Not all exercises at the end of the chapters are useful, but most are, and it is simple to pick and choose to get a good set of student problems. The "Quantitative Methods In Action" sections are quite useful to show students how these methods are really used in the business world by real companies. This book is practical, application oriented, requires a minimal amount of mathematics, and is not at all difficult to read and understand. I do not know personally the authors, and I have never had any communication with them, but I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn basic quantitative methods. In my opinion, it serves that purpose quite admirably.



5. This is the most terrible textbook I have ever used. It makes the already difficult theory even more difficult, not enough examples and explanation. The exercises are extremely hard.

4 comments about Introductory Algebra (Martin-Gay Developmental Math).

1. This book is confusing and gives bad examples. It does not go over how to do each step well and is hard to understand.



2. When a consumer purchases a product, they expect to get what they paid for. This belief is only strengthened when one purchases a product designed for self-improvement, especially if the product is one targeted at educators and students. Prentice Hall's Interactive Math: Beginning Algebra is a severe letdown... this software/textbook bundle is intended for students who are a)in college and b)trying to understand the basics of algebra so that they can continue on with their education and move to the next level. The product fails in two categories; the program itself, the 'installation' guide, and Prentice Hall's servers. To begin with, the installation setup is a joke. Unlike most programs that begin installation the moment the cd has loaded in the drive, users have to locate the add/delete program function in their directory, then click to start and follow the directions. As a long-time computer user, this is not a problem I had, however for the majority of people who have a hard time using computers (and they were the majority in the class I enrolled in which used this program)-this is a daunting task. This fact is compounded by the two installation manuals found in the box (both different). The second issue with program itself is that it is bug-ridden. More often than not, when a correct answer is entered, it is marked as 'incorrect'. The program is set up so that if the test portion of each chapter is not completed to a passing percentage (in our case, the percentage was set at 80%, which would be one incorrect answer out of five)one cannot advance to the next section. Now imagine for a moment getting all five answers correct, being told -you- answered all five incorrectly (because it shows the 'correct' answer under the one you submitted)and having to wait until the teacher can clear the error and mark all your answers correct. Now imagine a whole class having that same problem. It only gets worse when you realize that the classwork is also done at home (the whole course is online and can partially be done at home). The teacher can only do so much, so in the end you can't blame him or her. The blame is on Prentice Hall, and the fact that they clearly did not test this product and clear up the bugs before it was released on the market. The third problem with the product- it's technical support and the servers used to transmit uploaded and downloaded information (since the program itself requires the user to be online to open the program)is by far the worst part. Not only did they shut down their servers (repeatedly) for 'maintenance' at peak times, but students recieved numerous error messages while the system was up and running. Between socket errors and javascript problems, it was next to impossible to upload, download, or startup the program. The tech support number given in the textbook/software bundle- a number which was supposed to be there for students to call 24hrs in regards to assistance was useless after 9pm -even though peak hours for the system ofter were at night, when most of the people taking this class (who chose it because it was 'distance learning' and flexible)were coming home from work and getting ready to work on their classwork online. The teacher for the class eventually gave his students the -actual- 24hr number midway through the term, however it was after many of us had gone through quite a bit of hassle. In honesty, the only valuable thing about this product, is the actual textbook that comes with it. The textbook mirrors the program, explanation for explanation- and provides problems for the student to work out on their own... I shelled out for the whole package. Expect to see Prentice Hall either discontinue this product, or pull it off the market only to reintroduce it later after they work out it's inherent problems. Until then, please, do not buy this product.



3. I am 43 years old and needed to take algebra to finish my AS degree. I have not taken an algebra class in 30 years. This book was the required textbook for my class.
   
   I found this book very organized. In fact it was so organized I rarely needed to take notes on all the rules of algebra. This book helped me to review at the end of each section with the needed sample problems and reviews. It even had up-to-date pictures with algebraic problems that solved real life practical problems.
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone that needs to understand the basics of algebra.



4. The book is in great condition... however I was unaware that it was the "Annotated Instructor's Edition". I did not enjoy opening the package to find this out. Letting people know exactly what they are buying would be a good thing.

1 comments about College Algebra: Ninth Editon (with Interactive Video Skillbuilder CD-ROM) (Gustafson/Frisk).

1. Love the fact that I could buy the teachers addition. When I get stuck I can see where I am going wrong before getting into the classroom.

5 comments about Investment Science.

1. This book serves very good introduction to mathematical finance. Particularly,
   I enjoyed the discussion of bonds immunization, mean-variance theory, CAPM, APT.
   It's most suitable for senior undergraduates or any junior graduate students.
   But it doesn't deserve 5 star for the following reasons:
   
   1) Most of the theories discussed so far in the book are TOO idealized and
   over simplified. Financial data is dynamic and massive. In model quantitative/computational finance, the most important thing is to understand what the data says rather than what one thinks the data structure might be. With the book, one probably can only do some macroeconomic/very coarse analysis. Author should incorporate more data analysis evidence together with proposed theories.
   
   2) The proof of ito's lemma is wrong(i.e. "Deltaz^2 --> deterministic as Deltat --> 0"). It's surprising since most books make the same mistake. It is the law of the large number contributes to the equality!(i.e. integration sense). The misunderstanding of the proof might lead to the misunderstanding of the hedging process.
   
   3) In the commodity option pricing session, author demonstrated the use of futher market to price the option. This should be discussed further (i.e. black's model).
   
   4) The volatility pumping session should be further researched. The explanation is
   not satisfactory.



2. Prof. Luenberger currently teaches at Stanford and this book is used as the textbook for a 2-quarter series in investment science there. The coverage is concise and the math is manageable and yet extremely practical. I agree that this an excellent self-study book in the subject of investment science.



3. but it's a terrible math book.
   
   Too often, explanations, examples, and problems do not clearly explain the meanings of variables and applicable assumptions. This poor presentation of material makes the book barely usable to someone trying to learn the material for the first time.



4. The book was fine, but the shipping was absolutely horrible. This is the first and last time I ever try to buy a textbook online - I hate UPS!



5. I used this book for an undergraduate intro to financial mathematics course. As an electrical engineering student, I had no previous exposure to the subject, but this book did a great job of explaining finance and the mathematics behind it. The book contains many excellent examples and figures, and really helps you to gain an intuitive understanding of the mathematical and financial topics it presents. This book would be great to use for self-study; Luenberger explains everything in detail and with a friendly, conversational style. Highly recommended!

5 comments about Single Variable Calculus (with CengageNOW 3-Semester Printed Access Card) (Stewart's Calculus Series).

1. This book covers the first twelve chapters of the full edition of Calculus by Stewart. I would actually recommend buying that book instead of this one if you are planning on taking up to Calc. 3 because they are similar in price but the full version includes Calc 1, 2, and 3 material.
   
   Anyway, I used this text for both Calculus 1 and 2 in college. The first six chapters cover the course material for Calculus 1: Introductory Analytical Geometry, Limits, Derivatives, Applications of Derivatives, Integrals, and Applications of Intergrals. Chapters 7-12 covers course material normal for Calculus 2: Inverse functions/Derivatives and integrals of exponential and logarithmic functions, Techniques of Integrations, Applications of Integration to Physics/Engineering, Differiential Equations (which we didn't cover), Parametric Equations/Polar Coordinates, and Series. For some reason chapter seven includes different verisons of certain sections but they are basically the same anyway.
   
   Unlike other reviewers, I think that this book was very helpful. It is possible to learn the material if you put a lot of effort into it, which you need to do if you really want to learn Calculus.
   
   I can see why reviewers would find this book difficult to use though. Truthfully, I found the Calc 1 material much more difficult than the Calc 2 material, probably because more of the calc 1 material is based on theory. The section about graphing fuctions using derivatives is especially difficult. It is extremely difficult to take the derivatives of some of the functions the book gives you, let alone find the critical points, etc. Also, some of the maximinization problems are virtually impossible to solve and a number of the related rate problems are very tricky. Finally, I think that I can truthfully say that I rarely solved integrals correctly by the long way (using summations).
   
   Some people think that Calc 2 is the hardest math subject in the world, but I found the calc 2 material much easier than the calc 1 material. The calc 2 chapters deal more with just solving problems particularly limits, integrals, and series, and the "proofs" for equations are just given on the side or in the appendex. You should already know the basics, so there is nothing really tricky here (except maybe integration by partial fractions) and if you put the effort into working problems, you will probably do ok. Calc 2 is all about 1) Learning how to solve problems by recognizing trends and 2) Commiting some formulas and equalities to memory in order to solve problems and learn about applications of math. As far as I can see, Stewart's problems are as good as any to learn Calc 2.
   
   If you plan on studying Calculus in college, I would suggest first buying the book "Calculus the Easy Way" to look over first. It is pretty good; it covers all Calc 1 material and a good chunk of Calc 2 material. I would also suggest buying the solutions manuel to Stewart's text because it is helpful to see how the problems are worked out. My advice is to just put a lot of time into Calculus (no matter what book you use) and you should do ok. Its just math.



2. I have used this book for 2 semesters and all i have to say is that it sucks. the author skips steps and does a bad job of explaining nearly 75 percent of the book. i personally believe that he should know better, because alot of people dont have a good background in math, including myself, therefore alot of clear explanation is needed. this means that skipping steps and explaining concepts breifly doesnt cut it. therefore anyone who buys this book, should make sure he/she has many ways in tackling calculus, instead of just using the book, which is a waste even if its a penny. this means get the solution manual, pair up with someone, and etc.



3. I used this book for Calc 1 and 2. Calc 1 I didn't really ever look at the book but when I needed help in Calc 2 the book was a great. Since I often had no idea what was going on I would have to actually look at the book itself. I opened the book and beginning with the first page of the lesson, I read all the examples and explanations so I completely understood everything (often had to do MANY times). You really need to understand all the prior lessons to learn a new one because it all builds on itself. It was the first math class that I struggled so much in continuously, the book was a strong clear aid that really helped me get through (along with a great teacher ofcourse). And you know what, I passed the AP test with flying colors, both BC and AB (5's). As a text book which supplements the class and teacher this book is really pretty good. But if you are learning for yourself you might want something that is more verbal, than something that shows a lot cold hard info.



4. I feel sorry for the non-math inclined person who has to take an online Calculus course using this textbook. Math teachers rarely teach math the way the math textbook they use explains the topic. Typically a math teacher shows you how to solve problems then (sometimes) shows you why things work that way. This book, like typical math texts, gives a short written introduction to each topic then dives right into full-blown examples with the whys and hows all jumbled together. As a math person, this is workable for me as I can pull it all apart and reprocess it back together and I appreciate the in-depth analysis, but a non-math major could get lost very quickly.



5. I do not like this book but i needed it for my class. It is the sixth edition and it comes with a disc.

3 comments about Elementary Statistics in Social Research (10th Edition).

1. One of the best statistics books I can think of for social scientists who are not well aquainted with statistical procedures. The book is structured in several chapters, each concentrating on one statistical problem. In the first part of each chapter the theoretical background is given, followed by examples. Then, other examples are given, so that it becomes easily understandable how to correctly use the formulas respectively when they can't be used. Finally, there is a part of exercises where the reader may apply his new knowledge, before proceeding to the next chapter. However, it is just an introduction, not dealing with more complex statistical problems. Very recommendable for anyone who needs a solid basic knowledge in statistic or who wants how to start processing existing data.



2. Excellent description of the purpose and procedures of basic statistical techniques. Uses simplified formulas, and does not get lost in the math. Easy to read and understand. Good for social science and public policy courses, including public administration. Only drawback: does not effectively incorporate computer applications.



3. this was not a favorite class of mine, but this book got me through the worst of it!

5 comments about How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton Science Library).

1. If you want instructions on how to become a genius, read and practice this book. If you don't want to become a genius, but want to become a killer engineer, accountant, physicist, doctor, scientist, teacher or any other professional using math, read and practice this book.
   
   Modern Math texts cite this book constantly. They elevate the 5 step process to the word of the (something). Unfortunately, the rest of the text is about performing step 3, solving the algebraic equation. Step 2, writing the equation is the harder part for most students. Practice step 2 every day, and you will become master of time and space. We got computers to do step 3, that's not the hard part.
   
   I tell students this book is about how to solve word problems. It is not about math, but how to use it.
   
   I found a copy of it in a stack of books in a sandwich shop on Main street. It belongs in every stack of books everywhere. It will improve the world.



2. I actually tried the techniques in this book while taking freshman physics at Harvard. They weren't all that helpful. I remember it sounding good, but being fairly useless when it came to attacking challenging textbook and recitation problems (which are a far cry from actual scientific questions). What I eventually learned was that the key to such so-called "problems" is to understand the problem writers and the choices they make. Polya operates in some idealistic and trivial world, as if being methodical were sufficient to win that game. People who find this book helpful may feel unprepared when they step it up a notch.



3. There is a reason that this book has been in print for decades. It should be required reading for teachers, students, and anybody interested in thinking. Problem-solving is a useful skill that can be learned. Polya does the teaching.



4. Every teacher and parent should read this book. Every person interested in problem solving should also read it.
   
   This book is not just about mathematical methods, mathematical problem solving, or teaching mathematics. It is about solving problems. It presents concrete methods (or heuristics) and illustrates by guiding the reader using these methods through clear and cogent examples.
   
   The problem solving insight this book provides is extremely useful. It is about how to go about solving a problem. There are many different ways to approach a difficult problem and often in complex problem solving one does not know where to begin to even think about the problem.
   
   I recall Andrew Wiles, the mathematician who proved Fermat's Last Theorem (a very famous, long-lasting, and seemingly unproven theorem - unproven for centuries), discussed how during his initial work on the problem, work which ultimately took Wiles about seven years to figure out how to prove, and then to go ahead and prove the theorem, had to study problem solving methodologies just to know how to approach the problem. He needed to learn how to attack the problem - where to begin.
   
   This book is great for learning the different approaches to problem solving. One method discussed in detail is to work similar problems or simpler problems that are similar to the main problem. This allows one to start gauge the issues surrounding the problem and the assist the mind in thinking about the problem and its boundaries.
   
   Anyone interested in becoming a better problem solver, a better teacher, or a parent trying to teach or help their children learn mathematics or science (or to help them with their homework - but to do so by teaching advanced problem solving methods implicitly), then this book is for you. It is not a difficult book and you do not have to be an expert in mathematics or mathematically inclined.



5. Very interesting book on how to solve problems, which can be applied to both mathematical and real-life problems. It contains general themes of problem-solving, attitudes one should have towards problems, and detailed methods of how to go about solving problems. It also discusses the optimal teacher-student relationship in the context of problem-solving.

2 comments about Intermediate Algebra with Applications.

1. When going back to school after 24 years, it was very helpful and gave me the confidence I needed.



2. the text book i purschased was one of my collee books i needed it was in great condition and it is being used regually.

5 comments about Statistics for Business and Economics (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac) (Statistics for Business & Economics).

1. The book has a lot of examples and is a must have for those majoring in Finance. Some Universities use this for Intro to Statistics and this book is very didactic. The way it's written out in a form that takes you a another level of reading which makes you feel you're in a rainbow... a reading rainbow... Anway... The book has answers in the back so it's good enough for whenever the professor assigns Homework.



2. This book tends to jump off topic (most aren't explained well). For example, they talk about one thing but the exercises are a bit different than the chapter's topic. Most of the information isn't fully explained. If you are in a class where the instructor assigns the exercise questions for homework, you are screwed. You may not know what to do unless you seek outside help (study guide, tutor etc.) or read beyond the chapter.



3. I have a basic statistics background before I read this book. For me, the book is useful for my basic quantitative research. Last few chapters apply the statistics rules in earlier chapters to the real business environment, which I think it's really practical and interesting. The most I like in this book is the practice questions at the end of each chapter, which apply to everyone's daily life. However, first four chapters cover too many unnecessary topics.



4. Basic information is all covered in the book. Great if you are taking AP Statistics or a statistics course in your undergrads.



5. Very good text for any statistics student. Clear and concise explanations. Ten times better than the text I used in undergrad by Newbold.

2 comments about Student Solutions Manual for Stewart's Essential Calculus: Early Transcendentals.

1. If you want to pass your Calculus class, then buy the solution manual to the textbook. That seems like common sense but some students question whether or not they need it, or would rather pocket the extra $30. Big mistake, even if you are a math genius, which I'm not and never will be. This book not only shows you the answers to the odd problems but it goes through each step by step.



2. This is a great book to have around when you run into problems with calc homework. It's nice to be able to just reach over and open this book to find a step by step solution to the problem your working on. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is using the textbook it relates to.