Pre-Calculus For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Introduction

Welcome to Pre-Calculus For Dummies, a nondiscriminatory, equal-opportunity book. You’re welcome to participate whether you are a genius or (like us) you need a recipe to make ice. Don’t let the title throw you. If you’ve gotten this far in math, in no way are you a dummy! You may be reading this book for a few perfectly great reasons. Maybe you need a reference book that you can actually understand (we’ve never met a pre-calc text that we liked). Perhaps your guidance counselor told you that taking pre-calc would look good on your college application, but you couldn’t care less about the subject and just want to get a good grade. Or, maybe you’re contemplating buying this book and you want to check us out to see if we’re a good match (not unlike looking at your blind date through the window before you walk into the restaurant). Regardless of why you opened up this book, it will help you navigate the tricky path that is pre-calc.

You may also be wondering, “When will I ever really use pre-calculus?” You’re not alone. Some of our students have referred to it as pre-calc-uselessness. Well, they quickly found out how wrong they were. The concepts throughout this book are used in many real-world applications.

This book has one goal and one goal only — to teach you pre-calculus in as painless a way as possible. If you thought that you could never tackle this subject and you end up with a decent grade in this class, would you mind sending us a letter? E-mail’s good too. ...