Gelfand's Trigonometry: Reviews & Deeper Understanding

[QuantumCurt]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on Gelfand's Trigonometry book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0817639144/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I'm looking for a trigonometry supplement. I actually just finished taking trig over the summer, but my textbook(Larson's Trigonometry) does a horrible job of explaining the "how this works" and the "why this works the way it does" aspects. My professor for the class was also more or less a by the book type of teacher. She didn't really go into detail about any of the conceptual or theoretical aspects. It was more of a "here's the formula, and here's how you plug the numbers into it" type of teaching style. Usually, she would actually use the examples from the chapters that were already clearly worked out in the book. Not a very comprehensive course, to say the least. I did fine in the class...I think I finished with about a 98%, but I'm desiring a more thorough understanding of the concepts. Trigonometry is a really cool topic, and I wish she would have explained more of the theory behind it. I've read a bunch of reviews in various places for this book, and they seem to be mostly positive, and it sounds like it's based more on conceptual understanding of the theory behind trigonometry.

Any input would be much appreciated. :)

 

[theoristo]

I totally recommend it...it's one of the best avaible you might also check books by Kunihiko Kodaira and any dover book on the subject like Trigonometry Refresher by klaf,there's also Plane trigonometry by Loney...also Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry although it has a lot of history bits,it will give you good ideas.

 

[verty]

I recommend https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471775584/?tag=pfamazon01-20 instead, why not kill two birds with one stone? You were asking about geometry before. However, this may be more concise than you would like if you want a dedicated book (but looking at the table of contents, it seems to cover everything you need).

Books referenced: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471775584/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[verty]

And https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470222719/?tag=pfamazon01-20 seems to cover more than Gelfand does, for example, the dot product and complex numbers, all things that are important to know. The used price is very low.

Books referenced: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470222719/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[theoristo]

And https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470222719/?tag=pfamazon01-20 seems to cover more than Gelfand does, for example, the dot product and complex numbers, all things that are important to know. The used price is very low.

Books referenced: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470222719/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I've used this book ,it's awful.

 

[verty]

I've used this book ,it's awful.

Awful how? Do you mean it moves too quickly?

 

[theoristo]

It's not very good when compared to Gelfand (on the parts that it covers)but decent when compared with other new books.

 

[QuantumCurt]

I totally recommend it...it's one of the best avaible you might also check books by Kunihiko Kodaira and any dover book on the subject like Trigonometry Refresher by klaf,there's also Plane trigonometry by Loney...also Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry although it has a lot of history bits,it will give you good ideas.

I was also checking out the Loney book, that one looks pretty good as well. Just looking through the previews of a couple of books, it looks like there is a TON that got left out of my trig class. We didn't go over the last 2 chapters of my trig book, but I've basically covered all of them since semester ended. One of the chapters was just a review of exponential and logarithmic functions, so nothing complicated. The other one was the coolest chapter in the book I thought. Conics and rotations of conics. Conics are a review from college algebra, but rotations are freakin neat. I've been working on them the last couple of days. It looks like these books both have a pretty comprehensive treatment of these topics, amongst others.

I recommend https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471775584/?tag=pfamazon01-20 instead, why not kill two birds with one stone? You were asking about geometry before. However, this may be more concise than you would like if you want a dedicated book (but looking at the table of contents, it seems to cover everything you need).

Books referenced: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471775584/?tag=pfamazon01-20

That looks like a great book. That would be just about perfect. I'm really interested in the geometrical aspects of trigonometry, and it looks like that book covers those aspects in great depth. I might have to add that one to the list.

Thanks for the recommendations!