Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Enables readers to make new discoveries as they browse and check cross-references.
Preface
Anonymous
Posted May 30, 2008
Unfortunately, this pocket dictionary 'claiming to be ¿concise¿' primarily re-iterates vague definitions from textbooks. For example, ¿differentiate¿ in calculus is an ambiguous misnomer that baffles students in that a mathematician from the old school gave the method the incorrect name. The authors should clarify that, for the GEOMETRIC FACET, short-line segments 'tangent lines' are marked around the exterior of a curved line and/or point-to-point short-line segments 'such as secant lines' are marked along the interior of the curved line in order to approximate information about the curved line itself at a given point 'a constant' that is anchored in common on the short-line segment and the curved line because the old buffs were rigid thinkers who couldn¿t be flexible enough to develop a method for working with curvatures. The ALGEBRAIC FACET uses the difference quotient f'x+h' ¿ f'x'/h when x is an unknown input value, or f'a+h' ¿ f'a'/h when x=a is a known input value and that ¿differential calculus¿ is used primarily for proofing new solutions and geometric shapes, and the basics of motion in physics whose movements of velocity and acceleration correlate as the 1st and 2nd derivatives within a one- and two-dimensional 'x,y' plane where ¿limits¿ are easily misconstrued, and so on. Also, the authors recite the use of formulas as examples 'commonly accepted equations for a theorem' when they don¿t know the concise meaning for a dictionary definition. Overall, I can¿t recommend this dictionary to other students because it doesn¿t overcome the insufficient textbook definitions, so I¿m still shopping for a good math dictionary that contains real-world clarifications of mathematical terminology.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 27, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Authoritative and reliable, this superb reference contains more than 3,000 alphabetically arranged entries, providing clear jargon-free definitions of even the most technical mathematical terms. Ranging widely from Achilles paradox to zero matrix, the dictionary uses graphs, diagrams, and charts to render definitions as comprehensible as possible, offering an ideal introduction to subjects such linear algebra, optimization, nonlinear equations, and differential equations. The Dictionary covers both pure and ...