What Is the Best Algebra Refresher Book for a Calculus Student?

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The discussion centers on the need for resources to strengthen algebra skills in preparation for Calculus I. The individual finds the calculus concepts manageable but struggles with algebra due to a long gap since their last algebra course. They seek books that focus on essential algebra topics relevant to calculus, such as simplifying expressions, synthetic division, logarithms, and basic trigonometry. A suggestion is made for "Algebra and Trigonometry" by Israel Gelfand, which is noted for being concise and suitable for refreshing foundational knowledge before diving deeper into calculus. The goal is to utilize these resources during the Christmas break, ideally completing them within a month.
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I am currently enrolled in Calculus I and am doing fine, the class is very easy as far as calculus concepts go but I struggle with the algebra. It's been 4-5 years since I took algebra so I don't remember a whole lot and really don't want to take the class over.

With that said, are there any books that cover what I am looking for? I don't need super in-depth algebra, I can learn that as I go, just something that helps with simplifying/moving around terms, synthetic division, logarithms, aka anything that is needed algebra-wise that is used most commonly in calculus.

I'm thinking something I can play around with during Christmas break. So I'd like to be able to get through it in about a month.

Oh yeah...maybe basic trig as well. Now that I'm typing this out...maybe I am best suited with something you'd take before calculus, like a "basics you should know before taking calculus" type thing?
 
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The two books, Algebra and Trigonometry, by Israel Gelfand. They are short and sweet.
 
The book is fascinating. If your education includes a typical math degree curriculum, with Lebesgue integration, functional analysis, etc, it teaches QFT with only a passing acquaintance of ordinary QM you would get at HS. However, I would read Lenny Susskind's book on QM first. Purchased a copy straight away, but it will not arrive until the end of December; however, Scribd has a PDF I am now studying. The first part introduces distribution theory (and other related concepts), which...

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