Revisiting Algebra / Any Good Books to Help Master it?

[CarbonWater]

I've been doing the intermediate math classes like calculus and differential equations. I'm doing okay, but not great. What holds me back getting a 100% in these classes is almost always the algebra. I make stupid algebra mistakes and honestly am not completely comfortable with some concepts.

Does anyone know of any books or guides or approaches that are tailored to people trying to refresh / perfect their algebra? I feel like I almost need to approach it a different way to master it at this point.

 

[chiro]

I've been doing the intermediate math classes like calculus and differential equations. I'm doing okay, but not great. What holds me back getting a 100% in these classes is almost always the algebra. I make stupid algebra mistakes and honestly am not completely comfortable with some concepts.

Does anyone know of any books or guides or approaches that are tailored to people trying to refresh / perfect their algebra? I feel like I almost need to approach it a different way to master it at this point.

Are you talking about algebra as in arithmetic or algebra as in group-theory based algebra?

 

[DivisionByZro]

Are you talking about algebra as in arithmetic or algebra as in group-theory based algebra?

Considering the fact that he is talking about algebra used calculus of diff. equations, I would say that it's likely to be elementary algebra. In that case, I highly recommend Algebra, Gelfand. Also, if you're looking for a better intuition of trigonometry, try Trigonometry, Gelfand.

The above two books really focus on intuition and understanding as opposed to memorizing algorithms, and are also very challenging.

 

[micromass]

Make a lot of exercises. It's the only way to master these things!

 

[CarbonWater]

Considering the fact that he is talking about algebra used calculus of diff. equations, I would say that it's likely to be elementary algebra. In that case, I highly recommend Algebra, Gelfand. Also, if you're looking for a better intuition of trigonometry, try Trigonometry, Gelfand.

The above two books really focus on intuition and understanding as opposed to memorizing algorithms, and are also very challenging.

Thanks for the suggestion and you were correct about which type of algebra I'm talking about.