Excerpt from College Algebra

This book is designed primarily for use as a text-book in the freshman year of colleges and technical schools. Special attention is directed to the following features:

(1) The method of reviewing the algebra of the secondary schools.

(2) The selection and omission of material.

(3) The explicit statement of assumptions upon which the proofs are based.

(4) The application of algebraic methods to physical problems.

For the majority of college freshmen, a considerable period of time elapses between the completion of the high school algebra and the beginning of college mathematics. The review of the secondary school algebra is written for these students. This part of the book is, however, more than a hasty review. While the student is reviewing a first course, he is at the same time making a distinct advance by seeing the subject-matter from new view points, which his added maturity enables him to appreciate. For example, the functional notation, graphs, and determinants are introduced and used to advantage in the review. The extensions of the number concept receive fuller treatment than is usual in a college algebra. The various classes of numbers from positive integers to complex numbers are treated in the order in which they are demanded by the equation.

The application of algebra in the more advanced courses in mathematics has been an important factor in determining the subject-matter. Not only are some of the topics usually treated in the traditional course in algebra entirely omitted, but in each chapter the material is restricted to the development of those central points which experience has shown to be essential.

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