Please recommend me a good math book prior to taking trigonometry

[Newdimension]

Hello, it has been a few years since I took an algebra class, and therefore I have already forgotten a lot of material. I will be taking a college trigonometry class soon during winter session and I was wondering if you could recommend me a good Algebra I and II book to review before taking the class. I will be taking, at a later time, pre-calculus, calculus I, calculus II, etc. so, if the book covers some of that material as well, it would be a good plus.

Please recommend me only books. I know there is a lot of free material, including videos, online, but I prefer a book.

 

[slider142]

Hello, it has been a few years since I took an algebra class, and therefore I have already forgotten a lot of material. I will be taking a college trigonometry class soon during winter session and I was wondering if you could recommend me a good Algebra I and II book to review before taking the class. I will be taking, at a later time, pre-calculus, calculus I, calculus II, etc. so, if the book covers some of that material as well, it would be a good plus.

Please recommend me only books. I know there is a lot of free material, including videos, online, but I prefer a book.

There are a few good books in that area for review. Sheldon Axler's Algebra and Trigonometry is nice, and so is Lang's Basic Mathematics. I also recommend What Is Mathematics? just for fun, if you have the time.

 

[Newdimension]

Thank you for your help. Sadly, I don't have enough free time to read "What Is Mathematics?" My class begins on January, and I still have to get ready for another class. So, I only have about 1 month and a few weeks to review as much math as I can before starting trigonometry class.
The "Algebra and Trigonometry" book is 784 pages, and "Basic Mathematics" is 496 pages; I am not sure if I would be able to go through each book (or even half of them) before the class starts. Could you recommend me other books?
Could you give me your opinion on the following book?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592441300/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[mathwonk]

I recommend the first review on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592441300/?tag=pfamazon01-20I will only add to that my experience with Simmons's books as being well written. But I have never read one that was meant as a "crash course". I don't think Lang is probably what you want after perusing it online.

 

[Newdimension]

I don't think Lang is probably what you want after perusing it online.

Could you tell me what you meant by that, please? thank you for your answer.

 

[mathwonk]

I forgot already the details, but I think i regarded it as too theoretical for most people. of course you can peruse it yourself.

 

[katybuoy]

I'm in the same boat here. I've been using Khan Academy to freshen up on math I haven't taken since high school. It really helps, and it is a lot faster than reading a book (at least for me). When you see the problems, maybe it would jog your memory.

 

[cseal]

Precalculus with Modeling and Visualizations by Gary Rockswold is good. I believe it's used frequently in community colleges. It has a review chapter prior to chapter 1.

 

[Newdimension]

I'm in the same boat here. I've been using Khan Academy to freshen up on math I haven't taken since high school. It really helps, and it is a lot faster than reading a book (at least for me). When you see the problems, maybe it would jog your memory.

Hello, I know it has been two months already, but could you tell me what methods you used for re-learning math and which ones worked the better for you? I bought the book mentioned in post #3 but, personally, it did not help me that much. I then used Khan Academy and it helped me better, but I haven't use it for too much yet.

Precalculus with Modeling and Visualizations by Gary Rockswold is good. I believe it's used frequently in community colleges. It has a review chapter prior to chapter 1.

Thank you I will check that book later tonight. I was hesitant about buying books with many pages (700 pages or more), but then I remembered that not every page will be about math lectures since some pages will be exercises, some parts will be examples, answers at the end of the book, etc. (silly me).

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Serge Lang Basic Mathematics is an amazing book. However, it can be confusing for a person who does not know how to read a mathbook. Not recommended for a crash course as previously mentioned by Mathwonk. I would suggest buying David Cohen Pre Calculus a problem solving approach. Very clear book and the exercises can become quite challenging. The book is well written.